Brynlee Meets Waldo and the Best Flippin' Deal in the valley for FHE!!!

Kari and Rob got season tickets to the Weber State basketball games. We tagged along the other day to one of the games.  Now you might be thinking to yourself that Weber State isn't really good at anything.  Well, you are wrong. They rock at basketball. I'm pretty sure they've won every game so far this season and are a top seed in their conference.  (I've got to defend my alma mater.) This game was a blow out, but it was still fun to be part of the blow out action! The funnest thing of course was watching Brynlee and Eliza have so much fun experiencing new things.  Brynlee's favorite part was the churro as well as watching the dancers.  Every time there was a 20 second time out and they would come out to cheer and do back flips Brynlee got super excited! Funniest thing was when she would immitate their back flips and put her head on the ground and bum in the air and shake it. Oh so darling!!! Now Waldo the cat is another story, but basically she wanted nothing to do with him.  As you can see in the picture below Brynlee will not even allow him to look her in the eye...for fear of...who knows what.



So we figured out that at the HAFB bowling alley they have a super duper deal on Mondays.  You can rent a lane for up to 6 people for 2 hours including shoe rental and pizza for $30.  That makes this awesome deal about $5/person. It's actually a really nice bowling alley that was recently remodeled.  We pretty much had the whole entire place to ourselves besides maybe a couple of other groups.  So much fun, and Brynlee loves to bowl and when she isn't bowling she can run around and be as loud as she pleases.  We went with Ty's fam and in a couple of weeks we are plannning on going with my family.  What can I say, pretty much we will be pro-bowlers in probably about a year :) Look for us on the PBA on ESPN2!!!!!!!!!

Gigantic Orange Vegetables

I remember the Halloween scene for the few years between high school and marriage.  Friends, (some more then others), and I would go to a singles dance or two, and then procede to hit pretty much every party from Provo to Logan staying out till way past the time that the H.G. goes to bed.  All for the sake of boys...most of them definitley not worth the effort.  It makes me tired just to think about it.  Life is much calmer now, less dramatic, and good.  Not to say that one way is better then the other, but I am glad that I am where I am. 

Halloween was fun with little Brynlee this year. She actually cared :D.  It's so fun to listen to her say, "Happy Halloween" and "Trick or Treat" in her little munchkin voice...all for the sake of a tootsie roll.  Her eyes light up whenever she sees pumpkins or anything else having to do with Halloween.  In fact at the grocery store we were in a hurry and heaven forbid we walked right past the big bins of pumpkins without ewwing and awwing over them.  I hear "mommy punkin"....progressivley getting louder until I turn around and acknowledge the fact that their are great orange vegetables just needing to be looked at. I love the whole experiencing new things through your child's eyes!!!

And again, because I am lazy and not wanting to be repetitive here is a link to pictures on Facebook of the other festivities of October at the Hodson household. All in all it was a fun and busy month.

Facebook October Pictures

My Bucket List Before I Die....

Before I die....of the freezing cold this winter!!!!



I actually was surfing the internet and ran across an October bucket list and thought to myself....I want one. So here it is:



1) Attempt {this recipe} for caramel apples. Ty absolutley loves them and would think I was numero uno wifey if I made them and they actually turned out.

2) Mmmm........YUM!!!!!!....attempt to make an apple pie and maybe share one with a neighbor?...Again, if it actually turns out.

3) Carve pumpkins 3 times. Once with Ty's fam 10-16-11. Once with My fam 10-28-11. Once with Rodriguez's, Allred's and Butler's....tradition that is 6+ years and still going.

4) Take a drive up the canyon to look at the beautiful leaves.

5) Visit Black Island Farms {Click here}. This is something I wanted to do last year, but didn't get around to. This year will be more fun anyways with Brynlee being a little bit older.

6) Start Christmas shopping early...HAHAHA!! Don't you know me by now?

7) Make something "fally" from one of my 1 billion pins on Pinterest {Click here}

8) 2 date nights!!!!!!!!!!!!...one being to the temple.

9) Actually dress up this year. I always leave it to the last minute so resort to sending my kids (Tyler and Brynlee) all dressed up, but don't actually participate myself.

These are all the fun things...then there is everything that I don't want to do, but have to anyways. Because they are not fun I won't even bother to put them on this blog.

My weekend fix!

Because sometimes I can be a lazy beast....

PRESS HERE for: A few pics from the last couple of months!

Anywho...this weekend was a great one.  I have been really stressed about random stuff in my life...a new job, a dang hard class, a calling that shouldn't but does stress me out, everything that I want to get done and organized, but can't quite seem to find the time because of previous mentioned stressors.  I think that this weekend was the perfect fix for all of that. I was able to get out with my family and have some fun and forget about the things that really don't matter so much.  Ok they do matter, but for the sake of my sanity,...there are much more important things.

FRIDAY!!!
I got woken up to Kari calling me on my cell phone.  This had to be good or the phone was going in the garbage. Well, she was calling to see if we wanted to go to Lagoon for $10.  Her mother in law was so nice to think of us and we were so excited to load up our girlies to take them. It was Brynlee's first time and it made me so happy to see her so happy and amazed by all the new adventures.  What I didn't get was a picture of her cute little scrunchy-faced-cry that she gave us everytime the ride ended.  How in the world do you explain to a 2 year old that we have to wait our turn...and sometimes that wait is longer then 20 seconds (especially on frightmares/employee day at Lagoon)...yah, you don't.  Anyways it was so fun!!! I've always loved Lagoon,....Ty not so much, but I must say it was so much better experiencing it through a little person named Brynlee.

SATURDAY!!!

We went shopping in Park City. This is something that I THOROUGHLY enjoy.  Why? Because I love to shop. Even if I have zilch money. It then becomes the thrill of the chase.  We first stopped in Morgan to drop something off at Ty's grandparents.  Something about Morgan and the air up there that I just love.  I could've stayed there all day and would have been perfectly happy.  But on to Park City we went. We stopped at ...not Baja Cantina like usual... We decided to try something new. What?!?!? We heard that The Loco Lizard was delish and so stopped there. It was nummy and I would definitely recommend it. We drove out of Park City a little bit poorer, but got some great deals.  Ty found some shoes and work shirts, me a REALLY CUTE coat, and Brynlee some clothes along with these shoes that were very much so...on sale.  (Side note. No we didn't listen to conference :( Our usual tradition includes doing things around the house and listening to conference on Saturday. Please don't judge.....)  Later on that evening we made a stop to visit Brynlee's Uncle Zach. Yep, I said Uncle....adorable!

SUNDAY!!!!

Awww! The essence of Conference weekend was captured in this day. No makeup, pjs, relaxation, conference blaring, yummy food, and family love! Absolutely perfect.   Listening to the prophet's voices brings such a peace to my life and I look forward to it more then any Sunday.  Most of the talks applied directly to me and I am so thankful for the words that I heard and the spirit I came away with.  I LOVE the gospel and know that it is what makes my life so wonderful and allows me to be so happy.

They needed an Asian

So this is a compilation of what was going to be about 10 different posts. Life comes at you and blogging doesn't always so much always happen. But like always I will always try harder and be better :) I have left out:

~Easter~
~SanFrancisco~

because there were a whole load of pictures...the plan is to blog about these in the next week....or so.

Do you recognize her? Yes that is my "Sillouhette" from the February Ensign. Long story short....I went with my sister to an Ensign photoshoot. They specifically needed an Asian girl. I fit the bill. The plan is (suggested by my Momma) to put it in a small frame for Brynlee's room so that she can always have the example of her Mom reading her scriptures.

I really love this show--

I could tell you why, but then it would turn this into a really long post. Just watch it. Oh wait...the season ended. Well, watch it when it returns in the fall. It will not disappoint!

Please don't report me to CPS. We brought this upstairs one night because Rusty was sick. Brynlee loves to play in it. She honestly puts herself in there and closes the door. She'll bring toys and books in there. It's a party!

Digi-scrap = Newest addiction of Sara's

And this next collage is one done by Annette. I think it's just adorable. It does however make me a teeny bit sad, because she as you can see from these pictures...she's growing up right before my eyes...

This was Brynlee's 3rd trip to the zoo. We took her when she was 4 months old. Not a whole lot of fun for her. We took her again when she was just over a year...not a whole lot of fun for us...she was a bit moody. And then a few weeks ago I went with my friend Marilinda. SO FUN for everyone!!!! Perfect day, a little bit cooler, but that's ok because the animals were way active, and NO crowds! I had so much fun that I have asked a few others to take the journey down there in the coming weeks.....

Yes...she eats and drives at the same time. She must get it from her Momma.

Minute-to-win it was so much fun with the Young women. Definite crowd pleaser and highly entertaining. Probably the most hilarious one was the orange in the nylon game. Pictured below is "Junk in your trunk".

Oh my sad! They are completley revamping the temple Ty and I were married in. It will be, I'm sure, so gorgeous when it's all finished, but the old building is definitley sentimental to us. Our children will have to see pictures of what it looked like when their parents got married there...instead of driving past it. We were able to make it to one last visit about a week before it closed. Tear.

I love this Before and After blog. It's so cool to be able to see what people do with old furniture or grody rooms and make them into something wonderful and new again. Here is my own.

Before **DI find of $15. Please excuse my big booty**:

After **A black desk...we don't use the desktop computer as much though...so this might have another future use. Thanks Mom for your help!!**:

Next on the project list is this:

{Waiting for pic}

I picked it up off of KSL for $25 buckaroos. She called it Shabby-Chic. Um...maybe not. But I do really enjoy the cute little legs and quaint little edging at the top. The plan is to strip the 20 layers of paint off of it and paint it a creamy color for Bryn's room to hold all of her books.

In the past couple of months Tyler has probably made 4 or 5 batches of chili verde. He has tried out several different recipes and is becoming the Verde Master!!! It is so delicious!!!! Ask anyone, he's a better cook then yours truly. I'm am totally ok with that :)

Here is a video of one of the grossest things.

She knows it sicks us out...and to her that is hilarious. Peace out!!

Love,

If I forget.....slap me!!!!

dear sara,

remember to:

*look at your calendar~you are a forgetful person

*take time for yourself

*wash behind your daughter's ears

*not step in the wet,.......very wet, unlandscaped dirt with slip on shoes

*buy gas when you're not in a hurry

*thank everyone who does kind things for you

*........especially family

*think of easter~ish activities more then a week before easter

*not stay up too late~you're not a morning person

*quit packing so much into your life~you're gonna miss out

*oh yes, get an 'a' out of stats the first time around~yes i got an 'a' :)

Guess who's excited....

....for SUMMER!!!!!!!!! Brynlee! And the rest of our little family. We seriously can hardly stand it any longer. I have a list of about 50 things that are summer- only kind of activities. I can't wait! I bought this swim suit for Brynlee not because it is cute (because really it isn't exactly all that cute), but because she is in love with Dora and I knew how happy she would be to just see it and try it on. She was thrilled. You should have seen how much she giggled and smiled while I was putting it on. I'm just glad it made her happy (and it was only about $5). I'll probably find 1 more swimsuit that is more eyepleasing for me, but chances are she will want to wear this one every time. Oh well, whadya do? I will post more on what we've been up to later. Luvs!!

Yes, he ran into a wall........

When we were in San Fran in January my Mom called in a panic. She said "something's happened to Rusty". Automatically I thougth hit by a car, stepped on by a great dane...etc. Well, not exactly. Rusty had been chasing birds in the front yard. My Mom called him to the back yard and he was cruising. He ran so fast that I guess he did not see the spout sticking off of the brick on the house. BAM and he has a gash the size of a quarter on his shoulder. My Mom was so good to baby him and wash his wound and bandage him up for a few days for us. He is so funny. With those bandages wrapped around him he acted so pathetic. Obviously he knew that he looked like an invalid wiener dog. {The pic below is not for the faint of heart} I am happy to report that the wound is barely visible now. The Roo is back to himself.

This is sooo cute. Brynlee takes the Daddy doll and baby doll and carrys them around everywhere. They give each other kisses, play in the doll house, ride on her car, and pretty much everything else you can think of.

She LOVES her Daddy!!!!

And can you guess where I always find the mommy doll?

{Dramatic pause....and gasp}

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I still don't quite know what to think of this.......

In LOVE with Grandma!!!

Bryn loves her grandmas so so much! You can see how excited she gets when she sees them. I also love them too! They are so special to us!!!

At Grandma Scott's

She get's to see her at least 3 times a week for 3-4 hours while I'm at work. Not sure for how long, but for right now that is our schedule. Grandma Scott has taught her so many fun things. Just today she taught Brynlee how to put her hand up to her nose and say Ah Choo! It's darling. Someday Brynlee will be Grandma's little quilting protege. Grandma S is so excited!!

Here she is with cousin Eliza. Grandma and Grandpa S wanted everyone sitting around the table and so got a couple of highchairs. The girls love being a part of the family dinner table.

{December 2010}

Brynlee's favorite corner at grandma and grandpa's is behind the couch in this corner with a special little cupboard of toys. She makes her way down there almost immediately to play with all the toys and sometimes finds special suprises (in the way of toys)! She LOVES it!! This cupboard was used by Kari and I growing up and was made by our Grandpa Robbins. It's fun to see it getting use through the generations.

{December 2010}

At Grandma Bates'


Brynlee also loves her Grandma Bates. Grandma Bates lives pretty much next door. Who wouldn't want to live next door to Grandma? Whenever we go to her house she immediately points towards the garage and waves goodbye to us. This is because she knows that grandma will spoil her with goody's which usually include a shake from Mcdonalds.

{October 2010}

Brynlee also likes to go to Grandma Bates' to see Uncle Casey, and to feed the fish. So much to do...so little time!

Brynlee can also almost always count on getting her picture taken by her Grandma Bates. For some reason she is a good little poser and smiler with Grandma B, but not usually with us. You can see who she favors :) And Grandma Bates is an awesome picture taker. Maybe someday Brynlee will learn some of her picture taking skills too!

{October 2010}

I am so grateful for each of Brynlee's grandparents! We love them so much!!!!!

Our HUGE blessing that stands about two feet high.

Brynlee Mae...what more can I say. We are totally in love with this girl. Everything about her!!! This is such a fun age. She is so fun to watch and play. She just loves to be with us and we love to be with her. She is learning so much and we are totally in awe. She is seriously such a sweetheart and I feel so blessed!

November 2010. This is at the kiddy place in the Newgate Mall. Brynlee LOVES it! She mostly stands around watching the other kids play, and then plays a little.

I think this is on the same day...just chillin while Mom and Dad attempt to do some Christmas shopping....

This one is a tid bit blurry, but it kinda shows how she is immitating everything we do!!! I mean everything. We yell at the dog...so does she. We fold our arms to pray...so does she. I put a sticker on my forhead...so does she. She is so impressionable!!!

And this is how she decides to wear headbands. It's so cute watching her put them on her head and then walking around thinking she looks beautiful. She does no matter what!!

Brynlee and baby Zach

Brynlee and Uncle Elmo. Ashley and Brock bought this shirt for Casey and she LOVES it!!!!

This is what she looks like most mornings when she's eating breakfast. She always wants to wear any coat "coe" and has to have her blankie "Beebee" by her side.

ps...if you're wondering why I never dress my child in anything besides jammies and never do her hair. Well, this girl has a little mind of her own. She loves certain outfits and anything comfortable. I have done her hair in piggies several times, but pretty sure she just pulls them out within 10 minutes...