Brooke White

Did you see my friend Brooke on AMERICAN IDOL lastnight??? She did GREAT! I really hope she goes far!!! Keep on voting for her!!! And if you haven't yet...and she makes it through tonight...then YOU BETTER VOTE next week!!! She is so NICE & would be an AMAZING role model!!!

Sunny Day

Today was such a GORGEOUS day, there was NO REASON not to spend time OUTSIDE!

I watched my sister-in-law's kids in the morning & we had fun in their backyard. The kids had fun playing in the dirt & I pulled them around in the wagon. The weather was so perfect.

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Straight from there, we went to the park for our ward's Park Play Day.

It was fun as always...nice to get some social time in, while Parker plays:) I mostly sat in the shade & visited, so I didn't notice how warm it was outside.

Parker LOVES to sit under the playground equipment & dig in the sand
Then we went to my parent's for a birthday dinner & Parker spent his time in the backyard
His NEW LOVE is the trampoline! He tries to do tricks, but mostly just likes to try walking on the wobbly surface:)

He had FUN on the slide w/daddy

and of course LOVES the sandbox as usual

Well, as you can SEE...we had SO MUCH FUN OUTSIDE today...

I just WISH I had thought about putting SUNSCREEN on my child!!!

Poor kid...1st Sunburn:(

He got a COOL bath when we got home & then I put aloevera all over his sunburn & FORTUNATELY he slept great

Sorry Parker! Next time I PROMISE to be a good mom & put sunscreen on you!!!

Edward VS Jacob

Ok...so better late than never, right!?!
I know I'm a little behind on the whole "Twilight Craze" but I finally decided to borrow these books from my friend(Thanks Mandy!) & put aside all of my regular responsibilities & just READ! For one week, I looked forward to Parker's nap time so that I could read & I really didn't do much cleaning, sleeping or cooking for the week...but I finished.

AND I HAD NO IDEA THERE WAS A 4th BOOK COMING OUT...TIL MANDY TOLD ME WHEN I WAS ALMOST DONE WITH THE 3rd BOOK!
I might have waited til this summer to read them, had I known!:)
Now...I am left thinking about these books & driving myself crazy until August!(which I guess isn't so bad)
I really really enjoyed the books, despite what I thought when I heard it was a "Vampire Love Story"---lets just say, it didn't quite excite me, which is why I hadn't read them til now!

Once I finished, I was DYING to talk to others who have read the book & get their thoughts, opinions, theories of what is going to happen in book 4, etc!!! I want to know what all of you thought! I LOVE Edward, but I LOVE Jacob too...I'm torn!

Snowboarding

Matt had the day off for President's Day...so we decided to go Snowboarding with his brother Tanner, his g-friend Shaya & his sisters. The only problem...I would have to leave Parker for the 1st time. I have never left Parker for longer than 3, maybe 4 hours...so I went BACK & FORTH with whether or not I wanted to go. It was a VERY hard decision for me, but finally decided to take advantage of this opportunity & go and have fun. My parents willingly took care of Parker & off we went!

We left Sunday afternoon to drive up to our family's ranch, just outside of Flagstaff. Well...there is just a little problem. Our cabin is NOT winterized...we only go up in the summer months. In the winter...there is NO running water & there is NO heat. Basically...we were going camping, with a roof over our heads. But we liked the idea of FREE lodging, so we decided to take advantage of it! We get up there & the snow is knee deep along the road up to our cabin. So...we can't drive up to the cabin. We park the truck along the road, grab as many bags as we can carry & make the trek up to the cabin...in the snow. Quite an adventure!

Yes...this is Matt's sister Whitney...in SHORTS walking through the snow. She froze.

It took a FEW trips up & back through the snow. We had a LOT of stuff. All of our Bags, LOTS of space heaters, shovels, snowboards, ice chests, water, port-a-potty & more. We FINALLY get everything inside & turn on EVERY heater we can find...only to trip the breaker. We discover we can't plug in so many heaters in one room & space them out throughout the cabin. Everyone is FREEZING & we are wondering WHY we didn't just splurge & get a hotel in Flagstaff! We finally warmed up, made dinner-Matt TRIED to help me make cheese crisps(but that task was better off if I did it myself:), laughed our heads off to Brian Reagan & The Office episodes & went to bed.

Just outside our cabin---we call it the "CINDER PIT"...usually this hill is covered with red cinder rock, but I thought it was beautiful covered in snow. Had we not been FREEZING from lugging our stuff inside, we would have been out sledding down the hill!

Monday we got up early...made the TREK back through the snow to the truck & loaded it up. It was a little better this time, because we were walking downhill when we were carrying things AND we had all our snowboarding gear on. We had a FUN day at Snowbowl!! We went on some pretty STEEP slopes...making me nervous more than once. But overall, I was just proud that I didn't fall & hurt myself and we had a lot of fun together!

Taking a picture of ourselves on the ski lift

Matt & his 2 sisters...Whitney & Aimee
The beautiful snowy mountains

Taking a little break, before going down the mountain

These 3 decided to take their jackets off 1/2 way through the day, because it was so HOT...but their shirts/backs/bottoms took a beating because of it

We got home Monday night...and I was SOOOO HAPPY to see Parker!!! He had so much FUN at Grandma & Grandpa's, I wasn't sure if he was going to come home with me!!!

Thanks Mom & Dad & Jeff & Tate & Brian & Heidi for taking such GREAT care of Parker AND for letting us use your truck!!! We had such a great time!

Happy Birthday!!!

Meet Matt's mom...my AMAZING Mother-in-law!

We celebrated her birthday with her last Friday & I just wanted to post this cute picture of Parker & his Grandma on her birthday:)

I am SO grateful every day for her.

Mostly because she raised the most incredible son in the entire world.

No...I'm not talking about Craig

Or you Tanner.

Sorry...both great kids, just not the MOST incredible:)

You know who I'm talking about.

Parker absolutely LOVES Grandma Allen! He gets to go over there every Thursday(while I teach Preschool) & he gets Grandma ALL TO HIMSELF for a couple of hours!

We had a fun night together, eating her favorite pie(French Silk from Village Inn)...YUMMY!!!

My mother-in-law does it all!!! She never ever stops amazing me with all that she does! I have more things in my house that she has made, then I can even believe! Let's see...

an AMAZING cross stitch-from A to Z gospel principles

the CUTEST black,red & white picture board(matches our bedroom perfectly!)

the words "BELIEVE" painted & decopauged with Christmas-y scrapbook paper

a DARLING baby blanket for Parker(made out of Matt's nursery fabric from way back when)
the PERFECT black & red table runner for my kitchen

my most recent gift---for Valentine's Day...cute painted blocks that say "LOVE"

I could go on & on. She is extremely talented & just keeps coming up with so many fun things!

I am so grateful for such a wonderful mother-in-law. You hear the horror stories & I just feel so blessed to be on the opposite end of the spectrum...next to the amazing mother-in-law stories! I love her so much & again am so grateful to her for raising Matt in to such an amazing person!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Keys

One of those days...

We went snowboarding this weekend(next post) & got home last night & basically crashed with exhaustion. This morning, I UNWILLINGLY woke up & got ready for preschool & was ready to walk out the door...when I realized I had NO KEYS!!! I quickly searched the house high & low...all of our bags are covering the floors, since we were too tired to unpack last night & I frantically searched through them, throwing things everywhere. I called my dad at work & asked him to look in his truck, that we borrowed to drive this weekend(not that it would help if he found them...but I could at least stop looking for them). He couldn't find them. I called my mom to rescue me. She didn't have a car today:( She called to borrow a car, so she could come & pick me up & drive me back to preschool--which is right by her house. I decided that it was silly for her to do all that, so I decided to call someone MYSELF & see about borrowing a car. I called my friend Cherri...who not only was HUGE lifesaver, but she also had a car seat in her van that was just Parker's size & lives so close, I knew I could run over to her house & make it to preschool in time. I was SOOOOO grateful to her!!!!

I BARELY made it to preschool in time & it went GREAT, despite my crazy morning. Really a fun day...I laughed so hard, I cried tears at something Tommy said. I wish I could remember what he said. After preschool, I drove to Matt's work...picked up the spare car keys & took Cherri's van home & picked up my car(I didn't want her to be without a car ALL day!) I drove back to my mom's to pick up Parker & Matt met me for a YUMMY lunch over at my parent's house. My dad came home sick at lunch time & I ran out to search his truck...
I found my keys!!! Wooohooo!!

Parker & I head home...to TRY and face the HUGE mess that I know is waiting for us at home. Bags with contents thrown EVERYWHER(in hopes of finding keys), dirty snowboarding boots & boards, lots of dirty laundry,etc. I get Parker out of his car seat, lock the door...shut the door...only to glance inside the window & see my KEYS sitting on the seat inside of the car. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! Is all I can say to myself!!! I honestly wrestled with the idea of going to the park for the next couple of hours until Matt got home from work, not wanting to call him & explain my stupidity. BUT...I just kept imagining the cyclone waiting for me inside our house & I knew that I could REALLY use those next few hours to do clean up! I finally decided to call Matt...who of course is wonderful...runs home & unlocks my car(thank GOODNESS he works 5 minutes from home) But I'm STILL terribly embarrassed that he had to leave, since he just started this job!!!

So...we got inside, cleaned up our messy house, I put Parker down for a nap & now I'm just laughing at my day.

Did I mention that when Matt came home to unlock the car, he told me he was going to buy me one of those things that latches on to a baby's shirt, so they don't lose their pacifier & attach my KEYS to mine!!!

Really...it might not be such a bad idea:)

I love Matt DAY!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

The day started off at 12:00am on the dot...when I walked in the door to a BEAUTIFUL bouquet of flowers & the SWEETEST note in the world waiting for me on the table. YES...I have the BEST husband who let me have a Girls Night Out & I REALLY appreciated it & had so much fun with the girls. First I went to a FUN Valentine's Bunko with my g-friends(@ Brittany's house & it was SO fun!) & then a fun Valentine's Enrichment Activity with the girls in my ward. Of course Parker woke up extra early this morning, because I stayed up extra late lastnight. Parker had FUN making Valentine's for his grandparent's today-we traced his little hands & made them say "I love you" in sign language. Then it was off to preschool. It was such a fun day. The kids were SO excited to exchange Valentine's & they all brought such fun goodies for us teachers too! It was so fun & the kids were GREAT! We met Matt at home for lunch & had fun playing in the backyard, since the weather has been absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! For dinner tonight, we headed out to Serrano's.(This is where we had our 1st date together---back in 1999 & so we like going back there for sentimental/mushy/lovey-dovey reasons) We had a yummy dinner & went on a walk & ate WAY too many goodies when we got home!

It was SUCH A FUN VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Just for fun...because I was recently reading some old journals & laughing out loud...

Journal Entry: Wednesday, June 10th, 1998 (summer after 9th grade)
This made me laugh...fun days of being a young, immature teenager. Matt is in my journal from age 13 years-til today...it is fun to go back & read about my "future hubby" back when we were just buddies:)

"... Me, Marissa, Crystal, Bryan & Matt Allen all went to the mall. We were bored so we decided to play "Ditch-em". The boys ditched us first & we could not find them anywhere & we were really hyper so we went around asking for guy's numbers. We just said, "We're having a contest, it can be fake, just write something down." It really was gonna be a contest, but Matt & Bryan didn't want to do it. Then we ditched them & by the time they found us we were ready to go home..."
NOW...fast forward approximately 6 years...Journal Entry: September 15, 2004
[I will just give you an excerpt & spare you all the mushy details of the proposal & details about Matt-that I think are best kept hidden in my journal:)] "Matt Allen asked me to marry him tonight!!!:)...The Perfect Proposal!!!! Exactly everything I wanted! I love him more than I can explain & am so excited to spend forever with him by my side."


I'm so excited that today is an entire DAY devoted to MY HUSBAND!!!
Yes...we have known each other since KINDERGARTEN, but our friendship has grown so much over the past 20 years & continues to grow each day. It is fun to look back & laugh about he used to TP my house, how I had a crush on him forever, how he took me on his 1st date when he turned 16, how he wrote me twice during his mission...asking me to send him my wedding invite when I got married & how NOW...we are happily married with the cutest little son in the world! Life is WONDERFUL!

HAPPY "I LOVE YOU" DAY!!!

PROOF

...that Parker has SOME hair!!!

Welcome!

WELCOME to the WORLD of BLOGGING!!!
My sister-in-law Julie finally got internet at their house & has joined the world of blogging!

Check out their BLOG to read more about these 3 cuties in the future!!!

Wii had fun!

Friday night we invited our good friend's Bryan & Natalie over. Natalie brought dinner...AMAZING!!! She brought fish, chicken & pork & the boys Barbequed it up in the backyard. Yea! We finally got to use our bbque that we got from my parent's for Christmas! Parker was in heaven...playing in the grass while they cooked the meat!

Dinner was DELICIOUS! Natalie had made salsa, beans & brought all the fixins for Tacos! They were delicious--I especially liked the fish tacos with some lime juice, mangos & cabbage!

After dinner we put Parker to bed & stayed up til after midnight playing Wii! (I don't know the last time we stayed up that late---we didn't even make it to midnight on New Year's Eve!) It was SO nice that they came to our house, so we could put Parker down & hang out later than 8:30pm! We had so much fun laughing & competing at the Wii:)

Thanks Bryan & Nat for a DELICIOUS dinner & a FUN time!

Reflections of Christ

Have you been down to the Mesa Visitors Center to see the
Reflections of Christ gallery???

Mark Mabry...a well-known valley photographer took on the amazing task of photographing people, depicting different scenes of Christ's life. It is an AMAZING gallery! Matt & I & Parker went down to see it on Tuesday night & first we watched the documentary video on the "making & creative process" that went into the project. It was really neat to see how so many people gave of their time & all that was involved in capturing the GORGEOUS pictures! It was neat to hear the people talk about the photo shoots & the spirit definitely confirms that they are depicting TRUE people and events. Then we walked through the gallery & the pictures were absolutely beautiful! And on top of the photography being amazing...the frames around the pictures are AMAZING! Yes...my brother Rob framed ALL of them! Not only did he spend a LOT of time doing so...he DONATED all of his time & materials!!! He is so humble, you won't hear him bragging about this work...but it really is amazing!!! You need to go down & see it for yourself! The photography, music, video of the making & the framing is AMAZING!!!

Check out MORE pictures & video footage on the Reflections of Christ here
They are working on creating a website for it soon.

Mark Mabry said this about my talented brother...

"Rob Brinton at Matage Custom Framing is working overtime and producing some of the most perfectly complimenting frames that I've ever seen around photography. His work has added a maturity and solidity to the art. Thank you Rob. BTW he is in Mesa on the Southwest Corner of Gilbert and Southern."

Ok...make some plans & go see it! I know they are taking reservations, but for a small group(like me, Matt & Parker)...we got right in.

It is WELL-WORTH your time!!!

Sad Day

1 year has gone by and the hardest part of being a mom...is taking Parker to the doctor for his shots:(

I guess I can't complain...if that is the hardest part!

1 year old shots - 2/4/08

Stats:

Height: 29 inches - 25% percentile

Weight: 21lbs 4 oz-25% percentile

Head: 19 1/4" - 97% percentile

Is it just me...or do these stats clearly state that I have a SMALL son with BIG head!?!

Big or Small...he is SOOOO CUTE!!!!

Happy Birthday MOM!!!

Born in 54 & turned 54!!!

& still looking better than ever! I SWEAR my mom NEVER AGES!!! I really really hope I get her "aging genes"! My poor dad has been bald since their wedding day & since his hair is now white...he's been asked MORE THAN ONCE...is that your DAUGHTER with you? Even if they have been mistaken for a father-daughter duo every once in awhile...they are the CUTEST COUPLE in the world!!!

My mom's birthday was on Saturday & we had a fun party over @ her house-ordering take-out from her very favorite place(Aloha Kitchen) & then topped off the night with icecream sundaes!

The grandkids all wanted to help blow out the candle!

Except they would have been happier to blow out 54 candles, instead of 1...since they fought over who got to blow it out:) HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

Just a few things about my AMAZING mom...

She loves to cook & her specialty is BREADS...whether it is breadsticks, dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, orange rolls(my personal favorite!), pizza dough, breads & more...she does it ALL & we all get to ENJOY her talent every Sunday at dinner...when we DIG in to the delicious carbs!!!

She is a WONDERFUL Grandma!!! Grandma to 8...4 boys & 4 girls...seven of them under 3 years old! She lets them run all over her house, doing who knows what to EVERY room & she still has a smile on her face at the end of the night! She is so patient with all of them & can usually be found with a rag in her hand...cleaning up the latest mess.

She likes to camp! Every year my cousins go camping over Spring Break & more often than not...my dad is very busy with Chicago Cubs Spring Training...so she loads up the kids by herself, takes them all camping...cooking DELICIOUS meals in the middle of the woods for the whole week!

She never stops Serving! She goes above and beyond in all that she does. She is currently the Relief Society President in her ward & will be found doing SOMETHING for the sisters in her ward on a DAILY basis! She serves without complaining too...always smiling & doing whatever she can do lend a hand! Even before this calling, she was always doing something for others! She never ever ever stops going!!!

She is busy,busy, busy & goes, goes, goes...on very little sleep! She NEVER goes to sleep before midnight & is always up and running the next morning...with her next task underway! Her kids keep her extra busy...especially the youngest Heidi, who is currently in Choir, Basketball & Club Volleyball & my mom goes to ALL the events! Just last Saturday...Heidi had a Volleyball tournament in East Mesa & my mom was helping with a Preparedness Fair at her Stake, but left so she could pick Heidi up from her tournament & drive her to SURPISE for a Regional Competition for Choir!(she missed the bus, since she was at Volleyball) That doesn't include the basketball games she currently attends every week for her! If she isn't busy enough, she babysits for her grandkids on a regular basis!

She is very talented! She loves to sew & has made so many beautiful things...including her curtains, pillows, numerous baby blankets, dresses & even her very own wedding dress!!! OH...she worked wonders on my wedding dress too! Altering it, adding a waist sash, beadwork & ribbon to the bottom...oh & she made my veil! She also loves to do floral arrangements! This is mostly a fun hobby for her(flowers for highschool dances) but has done several weddings(including mine!) & currently sells some silk floral arrangements at my brother's store Matage

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She is a wonderful wife & mother! She enjoys spending time with her family & is always looking for an excuse to get together with friends & family! She puts up with a LOT from her own 7 children & takes pride in marrying off 4 of them to wonderful spouses & has sent 3 boys on missions & will be sending 2 more in the next few months!

I could go on and on...but basically...she is AMAZING!!!

Happy Birthday MOM!!!

Hanging Out with Tom Chambers

Hey I'm finally blogging! I've never blogged and never really wanted to since Staci does such a good job. But I figured that I should blog about this. Somehow I got on an email list with a real estate investment company. They sent me an email with an invitation to a real estate seminar featuring Tom Chambers. I was interested in learning more about real estate investments and really wanted to meet Tom Chambers. So I invited my brother to come along. We didn't know what to expect, but the seminar was cool and there was a lot to learn. Tom has his own mortgage company. So he talked for a bit about real estate, mortgages and basketball. There was only like 20 people at the seminar so it was cool to be there with him in a small environment. I even got a signed basketball from him. It was a cool experience.
(Thanks babe for letting me hang out with Tom Chambers on a date night!)