Like, Totally Awesome...Fer Sher!!!

Read this post before you vote for your favorite couple!

We had a New Year's Eve party for some of our friends from our ward. We decided to make it a little funner by having everyone dress up in their best 80's attire. It was so much fun to see the "flashbacks" we all created. I took so many pictures but I can only put a few of them in this blog entry or else it will take me all day to get this posted. So, sit back and enjoy the ride...back to the radical & bodacious 80's!

Here is the photo of all the girls.

L-R: Erin, Catey, Rheanna, Ashley, Maryanne, Kammi, Celeste, and Michelle.

Here is a photo with some of the guys. That's my bishop in the front. He made sure to bring along his "walk man" for the event :)

L-R: Justin, Aaron, Sterling (Bishop Hunt-Front), Steve, and Greg.

Here are the photos I took of each of the couples from the party. I want everyone who reads this blog entry to vote on who the most "like totally radical" couple is. Please don't vote for yourself, that would be cheating :) So, here are your choices...

Erin and Reagan Bolli

Steve and Ashley Hanks

Kevin and Kammi Pyles

Sterling and Michelle Hunt

Justin and Rheanna Dow (no casting "look how cute" votes since they have their cute little baby Alec in their arms. I think that may have been a strategy of theirs)

Greg and Celeste Miller

(Greg won't be happy that I posted this photo because he looks like he's drank a little too much apple cider! But it was the only one I had of both of us together, so he'll have to deal with it)

And last but not least...

Maryanne and Aaron Holtz

(Our very own Jane Fonda and Aaron is the one with the blue duck-tail a little farther down in the post. So make sure you check that out!)

Now for some other random photos taken during the party. Like I said, I had so many photos but I think I chose the best ones that represent the night of "tubularness"!

Here I am in my nifty neon pink boots that I found at the thrift store!! They were huge on me but I just stuffed the toes with plastic bags and went on with my bad self!! I received many compliments on them. They were definitely worth the 10 bucks!!

Here's Gregory Lee with his hot pegged pants and his sweet pastel plaid shirt. In our photo together you can definitely see his preppy hair due better which seriously made him look like he was back in high school!! Totally funny !! :)

Here's Aaron's "duck tail" (at least, that's what our family called them. I know there are several other names for the famous patch of hair at the back of the head.) I think this was a great idea since he had no hair to work with. Kudos for the Holtz's imagination!!

Here's Ashley in her "totally awesome" outfit. I wanted to make sure and put in the other photo I have of a full length outfit.

Anyone for a little guitar hero?!?!

Here's Steve and Aaron playing Guitar Hero. Nothing like seeing your Bishop's 1st counselor and Executive Secretary dressed up like a couple of rockers. Aaron's transition was pretty severe since he's bald. It was somewhat strange to see him with hair!!

Here's Me and Ashley rockin' out! She totally kicked my butt on this game but then again, it was my first time playing it!! Greg and I thought about getting one for ourselves but then we came to our senses!! Our stance of no video games in the home helped us with our decision but let me just say, it was very tempting!! And I have to add that we just decided "for the time being" we wouldn't invest in it :) Maybe we'll keep it hidden in our room where the kids won't see :)

This is a good shot of my tu-tu outfit so I had to add this to the blog.

How about a game of Twister? It makes close friends get even closer!!

This is what the Bishop's Exec. Sec. thinks of him. Yes, that's my bishop getting sat on by Aaron. Games like this tend to create bonds that were never there before and that were probably never wanted :)

These two photos are of Kammi, Steve, and Ashley. I think Ashley may have gotten a little jealous of Kammi's attempt to hit on Steve. I was laughing so much through this round of Twister, I'm surprised the photos turned out!
Well, that's it for our New Year's Eve party. Make sure to vote for your favorite couple and I'll post the winner on here after the poll closes. Good luck to all those participating!!

Not so much!

Ok, so I watched the 4th Harry Potter and all I have to say is...I don't think so!! Yeah, you heard me right, that kid who's playing my Edward is just NOT acceptable!! I'm not sure what I am going to do, I'm actually somewhat depressed about it all :( I may be wearing a black veil at the premiere of the movie!! I know I have to let it go but I just wanted to let everyone know what my opinion was on the subject. My hope is that when the movie comes out that Robert Pattinson has some hidden charisma that will make me love him as Edward. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen?

Ok, so most of you "Twilight" fans probably already know that the parts of Edward Cullen and Bella have been casted for the upcoming movie. I must admit that I am not very fond of the guy playing Edward, at least from the picture posted on Stephenie Meyer's site. So, I did a google search to find more photos of him. I found far too many with only 1 being a shot that I would consider Edward-worthy. I was rather bummed :( But then I noticed that a lot of his photos had a familiar background topic...Harry Potter. So off to google I go yet again, to search for his name and Harry Potter. Ok, so it turns out that he was in one of the movies!! Perfect!! I can see him in action and then decide if I am going to be wearing black on the day of the opening of Twilight the movie (because I'll be mourning) or if I will be wearing my legendary Edward Cullen Fan Club "Bit_ Me" T-shirt (I blacked out the 1st E because I kept getting funny looks from everyone. Plus my worst fear would have been running into Pres. Draper while wearing it). The hunt for the movies was on! I went visiting teaching yesterday morning and of course the subject came up (she's the one who sent me an email announcing that they had casted Edward). By the end of the visit, I had the first 3 Harry Potter movies in hand, committing to watching them all that day!! And I did...and I really enjoyed them!! Now for the one bad thing about this situation, Robert Pattinson plays Cedric in the 4th movie!!! So, I sat on the couch all day yesterday, watching the first 3, knowing that I'd get to see "Edward" by the end of the day...didn't happen!! I was sooooo sad!! :( So, now the hunt is back on, I have to find someone who owns the 4th Harry Potter movie!! I may just have to go rent it but I think my visiting teaching partner may have said that she has it. I'll be giving her a call this morning. I must see Edward!!

The Rest of Our Vacation

Ok, so I know that I am once again way behind with my blog entries!! Things have just been so crazy lately. But I do promise to try and catch up and then keep up with it :)

We went to somewhat sunny Southern California in November. We spent some time in Disneyland for Hannah's birthday, which I have previously posted about. I just want to quickly share a couple of other photos from the others spots we visited.

We spent some time at the beach. It was chilly but nice to see the beautiful work that the Lord created.

Handsome Gaber's walking along the beach (well, with a little help from daddy, of course) And No, he's still not walking...he's on his own time frame.

Hannah holding some sand in her hand. I thought it was cool how the sun reflected and made it look like she's holding something that's glowing.

Gregory and I posing so I can atleast get into one of the pictures. That's the downfall for being the photographer of the family.

My mom "Lu-lu" enjoying the nice cool breeze. Look how beautiful the water looks in this picture! It makes me want to go on another cruise, just so I can see the "aqua" water that really does exsist. It's so amazing!!

Hannah and one of the many sea shells she found along the beach.

Greg and the kids trying to stay out of the way of the waves. Hannah got caught in a few of them and she had water up to her knees! She was very cold after a few short minutes.

We also spent a day in Knott's Berry Farm which was fun. Hannah could ride all except for 2 of the rides. She's a little dare-devil!!

The whole "Fam."

During this photo, the lady who worked there was rushing us so much that I felt like punching her out!! Another lady who was witnessing the rude behavior of the first, purposely stepped in and offered to take an additional photo of our family all together, which then made the worker even more mad. I thanked the nice lady who then commented on how rude the worker was being so she thought she should teach her a lesson. Let's put it this way, the nice lady took her own sweet time taking our family photo which I was thankful for :)

As you can see, it was a long vacation for us. The "kids" were lucky and got to sleep the whole drive home. That would have been nice :)

Strep yet again!!

You heard me right...both Hannah and I have Strep Throat again!! This makes 3 times in 5 months for me!! The doctor gave me a double dose of anitbiotics in hopes of killing it completely this time and let me just say that those shots HURT!! I can still barely walk. So, today is going to be a "down" day, just relaxing and maybe taking a nap. That sounds very inviting...maybe I should get sick more often :)

Hannah's Birthday at Disneyland

This year we gave Hannah the option between a party with friends or a trip to Disneyland for her birthday. Now what kid is going to give up a trip to Disneyland? I wasn't as fond of the choice seeings how we've been to a Disney park 3 times in the last year and a half!!! I'm all "Disney'ed" out! Anyway, I tried to be a good sport and kept a smile on my face. We also ended up going to Knottsberry Farm and a trip to the beach but I'll post about those later. This post is about Hannah's birthday.

Now since we were on vacation for her birthday, everywhere we went to eat she asked them to sing her happy birthday. Here is the list of willing participants...McDonald's (which Greg was very pleased about), The Cheesecake Factory, The Olive Garden, The Brick Oven (just after we got back home, she still thought she needed to be sung to), and I know there was a couple of other places but I just can't remember them. I'll ask Greg and then add them to the list.

At Disneyland, Hannah was given a button that said it was her birthday so everywhere we went the characters or workers kept wishing her a Happy Birthday. It really was wonderful. I was very impressed!! :)

Well, here are some photos from our Disney-Day. It was fun and I purchased a special crown for Hannah to wear because she's always "the princess" on her birthday. It's kind of a tradition that's been passed down :)

Hannah with Mickey!

Hannah in her Princess Crown. It had flashing lights that she wore proudly as it became darker. She loves being the center of attention!!

Hannah and I in the Alice in Wonderland tea cup.

My two cuties!! You can see Hannah's little birthday badge in this photo. And there's little Gabe with his precious straw!! He wouldn't let go of it for the world!!

Hannah, Gabe, Greg, and Grandma on the "It's a Small World" ride. It's Hannah's favorite because she likes me to point out "her lands" and "Gaber's lands" since they're both represented in the displays. Her other favorites are the "Winnie the Pooh" & "Peter pan" rides.

Well that's it for now. I'll post the rest of our vacation shortly. I'm a bit behind, I know, but I promise to make it a priority!!

Kid's Halloween Costumes & More Videos!!!

Now for the rest of my Halloween posting. I'll start out with my kid's Halloween costumes and try to end with the other two videos from the Ball's Halloween party. I'll try to keep this short but sweet :)

Here's Hannah in her "princess tigerlily" costume. The thing hanging in the front was the bag I made for her to put her candy in but she insisted on wearing it across her chest. I began making the costume two days before Halloween and I would not recommend that to anyone!!

Here's another picture of Hannah. I had just figured out that my camera of about five years has options to take the photo in sepia or black & white! It was very exciting for me! The only bad thing is Greg is in the process of getting me a "snazzy" camera so it makes my new find almost obsolete.

Here's Gabe in his giraffe costume. I had planned on making him a little indian too but I never found the time to get his completed. So, we used the back up plan which was great because it kept him warm. I tried everything to get a picture of him looking at the camera but he wasn't about to cooperate. This picture was as good as it got :)

Here are my two little sweeties together after trick-or-treating around for a couple of hours. We were lucky that it wasn't as cold as it usually is. Hannah received TONS of candy, in fact I think I took a picture of the bowl. Let me see if I can find it...

Ok, so here it is. It's hard to tell just how much candy she got because the picture doesn't show the actual size of the bowl but that's a full size Reeses candy bar on top. The bowl is the biggest in my set of three nesting bowls, if that gives you an idea. And if you know me, I'm not too fond of letting my kids eat a lot of sugar so this bowl should last us until next Halloween :)

Holy smokes, that was quite an ordeal but I finally got the other videos uploaded!! I hope you enjoy them!! And remember...be nice to those who willingly shared their amazing talents on these videos :)