Who Are You?

My friend Jennifer has a book coming out called Remarkably Jane in just a couple of months. She found this fun quiz that tells you what Jane Austen character you are most like. I'm so happy I'm Elizabeth! Now, who are you? 

Take the Quiz here!

Back from Disneyland!

So it seems I haven't posted in a really long time! We've been busy the last few weeks with missionaries coming home, Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving shopping, and then driving the next day to California for a FANTASTIC trip with Todd's whole family. I thought I'd list the highlights (and a few "lowlights") of our fun-filled vacay.

Highlight 1: Stopping in Vegas on Saturday for the night and trekking over to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We had another YUMMY entree that was out of this word. Way to go Cheesecake Factory, you never disappoint!

Lowlight 1: Unfortunately our stop in Vegas meant we'd be driving from Vegas to LA on a Sunday morning. For those who are unaware, this is a HUGE no no because the traffic is ridiculous. It took us TWO HOURS to drive to Primm from Vegas. Again, for those who are unaware, Primm is only 30 miles away! The drive that normally takes 3 1/2 hours took us a total of 7 hours. NOT FUN!

Highlight 2: We stayed at the Hyatt—a great hotel that is only a few minutes from Disneyland. The beds have super comfy pillows and a down blanket that is extra cozy. It's the same place we stayed last year. We loved it then and loved it this time too! 

Lowlight 2: Even with such a great hotel, we did have this one little problem with our room that nobody else seemed to have. For some reason there was this really loud noise that kept coming through the vent in our room all night long, every night but two. This means we did not sleep all that great. The first night we thought it was a fluke, otherwise we would have switched rooms. The second night it happened again, and we discovered the noise went off every 9 minutes—ALL NIGHT LONG! Then we were basically halfway done with our stay, so we obviously didn't want to change rooms. We did have noise one more night and then two nights of sweet peaceful freedom. So I guess that was the "highlight" of this "lowlight."

Highlight 3: Disneyland decorated for Christmas was SOOOOO cute! I loved it all. Walking down Main Street was fantastic with all the garlands and wreaths and ornaments and of course the huge Christmas tree. We went straight to Small World where everything in the ride was decorated very Christmasy, and outside the ride looked fantastic at night all covered in lights. The Haunted Mansion was done all Nightmare Before Christmas, which was kind of a fun change even though we think Tim Burton is super weird. There was a Christmas parade with all the characters dressed in their winter attire that was fun, and also a special Christmas firework show each night where it snowed on Main Street and other places in the park (we discovered the snow was actually soap bubbles).

Highlight 4: Being there with Todd's whole family. We discovered vacationing with kids is an entirely different type of vacation! We had a great time watching all the kids discover fun new rides, and even being scared of others. Our favorites were some great lines by the little kids:

Ben (in Vegas) after seeing a billboard of a somewhat scantily clad showgirl: "Dad, I can see her bum!" Craig: "Then don't look at it!" Ben: "Well, she's not real!"

Rachel after riding the Matterhorn: "I don't want to see monsters, only butterflies!"

Ben at the hotel after riding Tower of Tower earlier that day: "There are rides at Disneyland that are not for big people and little people. There's this one ride that goes up really fast and down really fast and up and you just float. I hate it."

Rachel after riding Pirates of the Caribbean and then Pooh's Adventure: "I don't want to go on Pirates, only Pooh!"

There were many other funny comments that I'm sure we'll remember later. :)

Highlight 5: All of the rides of course! My favorites are always Space Mountain and Indiana Jones. We were able to go on those multiple times, so I was a very happy camper. There's a new Toy Story ride in California Adventure that is similar to the Buzz Lightyear ride at Disney, but is all 3-D. It was pretty cool and we went on that mulitple times as well.

Highlight 6: Thank you Fast Pass! Because of these little beauties, the longest we had to wait in any ride was about 20 minutes. The parks weren't too crowded until Friday, so we loved the luxury of the "open" spaces until then.

Lowlight 3: I was somehow convinced that you do NOT get wet when sitting in the front seat on Splash Mountain. I had actually gone on the ride during a previous vacation and didn't get a drop on me in the very front. Obviously you can all see where this is going. Yes, I sat in front, and yes, I was soaked! Wet jeans, wet jacket, wet hair. I looked totally hot, but was seriously freezing, and basically stayed wet for the rest of the day/night. It was a bummer, but I miraculously made it back to the hotel without dying, so I guess it wasn't too bad. :) 

Highlight 7: The food was delicious! We ate YUMMY things every day. A list of our favorites: pepperoni pizza with really thick crust, caramel kettle corn, a hamburger covered in A1 sauce and blue cheese crumbles, pineapple whip from the Dole stand, a batter-fried Monte Cristo sandwich, ice cream cookie sandwich, French onion soup, garlic Parmesan fries, and a ton of other stuff I'm sure.

Lowlight 4: The one sad food moment for me was when we decided to cancel our reservations at the Blue Bayou. I've wanted to eat there for years and never have. We even made reservations this time, but could only do a group of 8. Since we had at least 14 in our group most times, we decided to forego and eat at the Orleans Cafe across the little street where we could all sit together. It was good food though, so that lessened the blow a little. :)

Highlight 8: We were lucky enough to have Jared come along with us and he taught a few things about Disneyland. He hooked us up with some awesome Honorary Disneyland Citizen pins, told us secrets about how to get higher scores on the new Toy Story ride, took us in the "special" caboose of the train, gave us his best performance on the Jungle Cruise, and got us an amazing discount on food and souvenirs! Thanks Jared!

Highlight 9: Taking it easy on our last day was nice. We didn't run around to all the rides, we just did the "show" thing and didn't rush. We went through this place in California Adventure where you can take a test to see what Disney character you are most like. Todd was Buzz Lightyear and was considered adventurous, and I was Lady (of Lady and the Tramp) and was considered a lady of leisure. Loved that! 

Well, there are many more highlights, and probably a few more lowlights as well, but I'll stop before this post gets way too long. Be on the lookout in the next few days for a great slide show with a bunch of our pictures. Hope you enjoyed these sneak peek shots for now! And a big thank you to Todd's parents for making such a fun trip happen for the whole family. We love you guys so much!

Seriously, Snow?

Three years ago was our first fall in this house and we raked enough leaves in our backyard to fill nearly 40 garbage bags! Last year we got smart and mulched them with the mower, so we only filled 10 or 12 bags. A huge improvement! This year we thought we'd be all cool and show everyone how many leaves we actually have. We had this great plan of taking pictures of the leaves during stages as they covered the ground out back. Great plan, right?

Stage 1: We took this awesome picture after we'd filled a couple bags with leaves. This many had fallen again by the time we cleaned everything up.

Stage 2: This was taken a few days later when a little more than half the leaves had fallen off our trees. Lookin' good!


Stage 3: This is the picture we took after all of the leaves had fallen. Note, there is something in this picture that does NOT belong!


Stage 4: To finish things off we took this picture, because it seemed like somebody was rubbing it in. Seriously, are we are total geniuses or what?!

So, with that said, does anybody want to come help us rake up 40 bags' worth of soggy leaves when the snow melts? It'll be SUPER fun . . .

More Mexico Pics (finally!)

The Twilight Test

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

I of course had to take this test, so I guess I'm Esme! It seems fitting I suppose. Since my cousin Randee made her husband take the quiz, I decided Todd had to take it too. He wanted to answer all of his questions with the "brute strength" and "flexing muscles" answers, but then I told him he had to answer HONESTLY! So in the end, he turned out being Carlisle, which made me happy since Carlisle and Esme are so happy together! :)


Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Viva Mexico!

Well, we just got back from an awesome week-long vacation with our friends from warm and (mostly) sunny Mexico! We stayed at an amazing all-inclusive resort (Secrets Maroma and Capri) thanks to Todd's genius travel research. We got a great nightly rate and loved the fact that we didn't have to pay for any of our meals or activities while we were there. Some of the highlights were relaxing on the beach, WARM weather, piña coladas, snorkeling, scuba diving (for the boys), sailing, kayaking, visiting old ruins, EXCELLENT food, running to catch the ferry, Spencer's Spanish/Italian menu, swampy cenotes, Julie's "drunk" giggles, and tons more! Here's some of our pics, and be on the lookout for another post when we get the rest of our pics from Spence (who was a great camera guy!). VIVA MEXICO! We can't wait for our next trip down there!

Dinner our first night at Bordeaux (the French restaurant at our hotel)

Outside the lobby (sorry it's foggy, our camera had do adjust to the humidity!)

Just playing "under the stars!"

In Cozumel on our way to scuba diving for the boys and snorkeling for the girls

Adam, Spence, and Todd just before their first dive!

In front of some ruins in Tulum (we had an awesome RM as our guide!)

Megan, me, and Julie overlooking the beach at Tulum

More ruins and beach at Tulum!

Fall Colors

Every year Todd and I listen to the Sunday afternoon session of the fall General Conference as we drive the Emigration Canyon loop up to Morgan so we can see all the pretty fall colors. It's a fun tradition and a great way to stay awake during that usually sleepy afternoon session! So, here's just a couple pictures of our drive. The colors were extra good this year!

Me at the top of Emigration Canyon

Todd IN the leaves on the Morgan side

It's About . . . Time!

Well, our adoption profile is finally online! It was only supposed to take 24 hours for our profile to post, but due to some "complications" at the adoption office, it took more than 2 weeks! We haven't been too worried just yet and figured if we were diligent, it would be posted eventually! So, without further ado, I know you are all dying to see said profile! Just click on the link below, click on Search Adoption Profiles, and then type toddandmelissa1 in the search box. Enjoy!

www.itsaboutlove.org

A Saturday Hike

So, Todd went hiking this last Saturday with a couple of friends to prep for a bigger hike he's doing with the priests in our ward in a few weeks. (By the way, he was released from the Elder's Quorum presidency a couple of weeks ago and was put in as the Priests advisor—his dream calling!) The hike was up Little Cottonwood Canyon and was called "Pfeifferhorn." It was about 10 miles round trip and went to 11,331 feet and apparently the views were amazing! Todd tells me it is one of the tallest peaks along the Wasatch front! Anyway, he had a blast and took some great pictures. They even saw mountain goats and were able to get pretty close to them. The worrier in me scolded him for getting close because of course I imagined the goats attacking him!

Approved!

Well, it's official! We are now approved and on the "waiting list" for our baby. Basically, we could get a call at any time letting us know we've been chosen as adoptive parents. Hooray!

I don't know if any of you are as big of fans as Todd and I are of the TV show Friends. There's one particular episode where Monica and Chandler find out they've just been approved for adoption and they are talking about how the next phone call they get could be their agency telling them they've been picked. The phone rings right after they say that and their eyes get really big and they answer the phone very excitedly but serious, thinking it's THE call already, about 30 seconds after they found out they were approved. This always makes us laugh, so Todd and I joke about it every time our phone rings!

Anyway, we'll keep everyone posted with all of our adoption news whenever we have any. Keep in mind that most couples go about 6 months to 2 years (on average) before a baby is placed with them. But who knows? It really could be our next call!

Breaking Dawn

OK, so I'm a little behind everyone else and just finished Stephanie Meyer's last book of the Twilight series yesterday. I know, I know, I'm so slow! I had a couple other books I just had to finish before I could start Breaking Dawn. So anyway, I just wanted to give you all my "review." Right off the bat I have to say I thought the book was really great! I didn't know what to think after reading the first two hundred pages, but I was definitely intrigued as to where the story was headed. I'm so happy how things ended up! I'm still a huge Edward fan, but Jacob seemed to really mature in this book, and where I just "liked" him before, I think I love him now. There were also some moments where Edward showed some real anguish and emotion, and I liked seeing that side of him. Finally, even though I was happy where it ended, I found part of me wanting just a little bit more. Did anyone else feel that way? Also, what does everyone think about the Twilight guide that is coming out in December? I think it might be pretty interesting actually . . .

Adoption Questions!

OK, so everyone seems to have the same questions about the whole adoption process Todd and I have to go through before a baby can be placed with us. So, I decided to take my cue from Randee and give you a list of some of the many questions we've heard along with our standard answers. Here goes!

1. How long does it take before your baby comes?

We've been told that, on average, once you are approved it could be anywhere from 6 months to 2 years. The caseworker we've been working with told us he's seen couples placed with a baby as soon as a week after approval, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 1 year—you name it, he's pretty much seen it. So basically, the answer is that we have no idea how long it will take! We've got a vacation planned for October 7-14, so we think we'll be called on October 6 with the news of our new arrival! :)

2. What does it mean that you have to be approved?

Basically there are a whole lot of hoops you have to jump through so that you are legally approved by the State of Utah as well as LDS Family Services. We've had to fill out tons of "paperwork" (basically just online questionnaires), get physicals, go to interviews both together and separate, show them our house, take a 6 week class, create our picture and letter profile for online and a few other things. After we do all of these things, our caseworker takes our Adoption Study (a report that he does that explains everything he's learned about us) to the board and they either approve or deny us.

3. When will you be approved?
We have just about finished doing everything actually! We are working on our profile and our first adoption class was last night. It was a really great class and we learned a ton and have a huge binder full of info now too. We also found out it won't take the full 6 weeks because there is a special 2-day FSA Conference (Families Supporting Adoption) next weekend at the Davis Conference Center that we were assigned to go to instead. Because so much of the information that we would have learned in our 6-week class is covered over these two days, we will only meet as a class one or two more times after next week. Awesome! So, that means we could be approved by the end of August!

4. Are we doing an open or closed adoption.

Most likely it will not be a closed adoption, which means no communication whatsoever with the birth mother. Right now we feel like a semi-open or open adoption best describes what we're looking for. A lot of it is dependent on the birth mother and what she would like to do. When we're selected, we'll meet with her and try to figure out what will be the best for all of us.

5. Are you nervous/afraid?

Yes! We're nervous it will take forever and that we won't be placed with. We're nervous that our birth mother will meet us and change her mind. We're nervous that after being chosen by our birth mother we won't feel like it's right. We're nervous about not being able to monitor the pregnancy (is the birth mother taking her vitamins daily, going to the doc, etc.), and the list goes on and on. If you think you'd be nervous about something, we're probably nervous about that same thing. (Luckily after some of our interviews and meetings a lot of the things we were previously nervous about have gone away!)

6. Are you excited?

Of course! We are so excited and despite all the things we are nervous about, there are definitely more things that we are super excited for. Number one, WE GET TO HAVE OUR BABY! We're excited to start parenting as we've watched so many of you tackle the job so well. We're excited go to "grandma's house" and show off our little cutie, we're excited to just sit and watch our baby and be a little family. We're excited to take pictures, to decorate our nursery, to buy cute little baby things, and again, we're just so excited that WE GET TO HAVE OUR BABY! :)

OK, so that's it. If you have any other questions, let me know and I'll answer them the best I can!

Big Sky!

Well, Todd and I went on our trip to Big Sky, Montana and had a blast! On our way up we stopped in Yellowstone for a day and hung out at Firehole and Old Faithful. It was super fun! We left Yellowstone in the early evening and continued our drive up to Big Sky, but we stopped at a campground along the way and stayed the night there in our car. We had a gorgeous camp spot right on the Gallatin River and we just chilled and played games and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. The next day we met up with Todd's whole family (including Todd's parents who are up in Billings, Montana, on a mission) and just partied from that point on! We went biking, hiking, walking, swimming, and played a bunch of games. Not to mention, we ate a TON! All in all, it was a successful trip and we loved seeing mom and dad again after 8 long months! I think we'd all love to go back one day and do it again.

Me at Mesa Falls on the way to Yellowstone

Todd and I at our BEAUTIFUL camp spot

Us biking down from the Mountain Village in Big Sky

Todd on our hike up to Ousel Falls

Ready for Baby!

We've been meaning to make this announcement for a while now! After lots of prayers and careful consideration, we've decided it's time to bring a baby into our home through adoption! We are so ready for a baby, and we think that adoption is such a great blessing and opportunity. The fact that someone out there would want us to raise their child is absolutely amazing and such a great compliment. We've already started the whole process with LDS Family Services and hope to be completely approved by early September, meaning we could have a baby ANY TIME after that! Scary, but very exciting! We haven't given up trying to get pregnant, but we just know that we are meant to have more than one or two kids, and we have come to realize we might not get ALL of them the good ol' conventional way. So, we're trying to be patient for just a little longer and are just imagining I'm pregnant without a due date! Wish us luck and we'll keep you all posted!

A Couple of Survivors

OK, so you all probably think I'm totally crazy right now because this is my third post about squirrels. I'm not crazy, I swear! So on Tuesday this week as I was working from home, I heard a familiar little knock on the back door. When I looked out, it was a squirrel! I thought they were all dead! I was too slow to get the camera, but the little guy came back on Wednesday, and with a friend. So, if you're keeping track, that means we have/had at least 7 squirrels living in our backyard! I wonder how many others survived the "plague" that killed the poor little guys I found in our garden. When the two squirrels were hanging out here on the back porch, it was actually pretty cute (even though I'm still VERY MAD at them). They were standing on their back legs and hitting and jumping on each other and just totally playing. I'm seriously starting to think they might be part human . . .

Anyway, I finally got a couple pictures so you can see that I'm not making things up. I wish I could catch them looking in the window with the camera—it's crazy!—but I'm always too slow. Enjoy!

Todd's Birthday and DEAD Squirrels

First I want to just tell Todd "Happy Birthday!" His birthday was Sunday, which was also Father's Day, so he was totally loving it. He now 31 and officially in his "30s." I love him very much and am so happy for the great spirit he brings with him into our home on a daily basis. He makes me laugh always (even though I don't want him to know I think he's funny) and he's the best snuggler in the world!

And, to keep you posted about the squirrels that raided our garden—they all DIED! No, we did not kill them, and we have no idea what happened to them really. I went out to the garden on Saturday to try a do a little weeding. I got through the row that used to have the lettuce pretty fast, and then reach for the next row and there was a dead squirrel laying there. I screamed and jumped back and looked over just a little farther and another dead squirrel was just a foot or so away, and then another and then another! There were dead squirrels all over our garden! It totally freaked my out and ran screaming for Todd. We were so sad that they all died. We were mad at them, sure, but we just wanted them to leave, not die! We think they were either attacked by something because a couple were a little mangled, or they were poisoned and then eaten by birds or something. Needless to say, there will be no pictures of the little guys now. I'm a little nervous to harvest from our garden now too, considering it might have killed several small animals. Yikes!

We Hate Squirrels!

This year we were totally on the ball and planted a really great garden. We planted yellow squash, zucchini, peas, red peppers, green peppers, jalapeños, onions, tomatoes, cilantro, rosemary, and lettuce. That's a ton of stuff, right? Well, we were especially excited about the lettuce because it came up so fast, but lo and behold, we went out back the other day and the WHOLE ROW of lettuce was completely gone! At first Todd said, "Did it all just die?" But the row was so cleaned out it didn't look like anything had ever even been planted there. And then we noticed the cilantro was eaten down to the ground. What in the world? Then we discovered the problem—SQUIRRELS! We now hate squirrels! We have a family of them living in our garden and they are the culprits! These are no ordinary squirrels either. It's like they think they are human! When I work at home, my office space is right by our back door. Several times I've heard knocking at the door and look out the window to find a squirrel just standing there. I make faces and yell at it to go away, and I even bang on the window, but it just stands there looking all innocent, staring at me. What is the deal with these squirrels? I also can't even go walk over to the garden area of our yard because they start "squeaking" at me and it totally freaks me out! Todd bought some "Critter Ridder" yesterday, so we'll have to see if that gets rid of them!

P.S. Next time the darn things knock on the back door, I'm taking a picture so you all believe me!

You Are Cinderella!

Dignified and hard working. With a gentle and soft-spoken manner you have something many people don't. Patience. Even through the moments of heartbreak you're still able to hold onto all of your hopes and dreams. Bide your time; your dream will come true.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

I found this quiz on my cousin Julie's blog. It's funny that I ended up being Cinderella—I have the Cinderella song "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" as the ring tone on my cell phone, and I love it. Totally fitting! Everybody make sure to take the quiz. Just click on the link above—it only takes a couple of minutes and it's fun!

Hair Catastrophe

So, I'm thinking I'll be taking the "Hot Sticks" I decided to try back to the store. Can you believe my hair? It looks ridiculous! For those of you who haven't seen me in a while, my hair is getting really long. It's about halfway down my back now, but in this picture I look like a short-haired poodle!

The story is that I went to the store to buy some hot rollers on recommendation from my cousin Julie, but they were $35 and I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to spend that much. There just happened to be a box of Hot Sticks right next to the hot rollers that seemed interesting and they were only $14. I was sucked in by the price and decided to try them out instead of the ones Julie got. Obviously a HUGE mistake. I should always remember that you usually get what you pay for! Suffice to say, I had to re-wet my hair that day to make it look normal again. Thank goodness it wasn't permanent.

Tulip Festival 2008 and My Birthday

OK, so I need to figure how to do the slide shows because we have so many good pictures from the Tulip Festival this year. Until I do that, you just get to see some of my favorite pics! We actually went on my 29th birthday (yikes!), which was on May 3, with Curtis and Amanda and their sweet little girls. We had such a great time! We parted ways after walking around the grounds for a couple hours at Thanksgiving Point and Todd and I grabbed a bite to eat at the deli there. They have "Thanksgiving" sandwiches that I love—turkey, cranberry sauce, lettuce and cream cheese on whole wheat! Yummy. After that we went shopping so Todd could "give" me my presents. I ended up getting a really cute outfit that consists of a black shirt and white skirt. (I have the black shirt on in the picture with Brock and Mia's headstone if you want to see it! It's from Down East.) After that we continued our good day of eating and went to Cheesecake Factory, my favorite restaurant ever! We shared the most fattening but completely delicious appetizers called Buffalo Blasts. These puppies are shredded chicken stirred with buffalo sauce and then fried in wonton wrappers. THEN you dip them in more buffalo sauce and chunky blue cheese dressing. These things were to DIE FOR, and would actually probably make you die if you ate all of them. Luckily we only had two each. :) We also shared a yummy entree and a piece of cheesecake. I can honestly say I was sick after that meal, but is was soooo good. Sunday we went to my parents house in Morgan and had another good dinner. Then I was spoiled and given some great presents from them as well. All in all it was a successful birthday. Now let's hope the big 30 goes just as well next year . . .  





P.S. I'll try to post more pics later—for some reason it's been a struggle just to get these ones on here!

Cute, not sad!

I've had a lot of people ask me what Brock and Mia's headstone looks like, and I always say that it is so cute! I'm sure that sounds weird to people sometimes because it was such a sad thing that happened, but I'm so proud of how cute we always make things look. This year for the twins birthday we celebrated by giving them a little shepherd's hook and wind chime. We also took some cute tulips, and my mom added some other spring flowers. So to answer the question sad or cute, my vote is for cute! 

A Flying Todd

Well, last Friday was Todd's lucky day! He was invited to go flying with my uncle Roland, who happens to be a pilot with his own little plane. Todd loves it whenever he gets to go with Rol—he just thinks it is the best. I however get very nervous, and being sure I'm not the only one that hears about small plane crashes on the news ALL OF THE TIME, I'm sure you all won't think I'm too paranoid. He always seems to come back though and my uncle says once we have a little one on the way, Todd won't be allowed to go with him anymore. So anyway, this ended up being one of Todd's longest flights in the little plane because they flew to Vernal to have lunch with my uncle's brother. Todd finally remembered to take his camera this time and he got to take some really cool pictures as they flew over Flaming Gorge. He had so much fun!