~The Sanfilippos~

Late 20's

2011-06-17T23:11:00.000-07:00

Tommy has joined me at 25, aka our 'late 20's', as Damon says. Lol, thank you for the reality check!

Here is my cute hubsters now with some of his cute family. Happy Birthday! Can't wait to ring in many more birthdays with you. Thank you for being such a great husband and dad. We love you!

It's Birthday Time!

2011-06-17T22:43:00.000-07:00

Can't believe this-

has turned into this!

Roman is such a great boy and I love being his mom! It is awesome to watch him grow, and learn so many new things. He is such a sweetheart and always loves to be held and cuddled. He is my little shy boy, but loves to laugh and play games! At 12 months, he is: ~clapping ~walking ~saying mama ~starting to say dada and more ~is starting to point to what he wants ~ has 8 teeth ~will play with any type of ball for hours! ~loves reading books ~loves to play with Hannah ~can eat a whole bowl of ice cream (probably the container if I'd let him!) ~loves playing with his cousins ~loves to be tickled ~plays peek-a-boo ~loves singing songs, his favorite is 'monkeys jumping on the bed' ~and we can't wait to see what our Roman will do next!

Love you Romer!!

Favorite Bath Picture Ever!

2011-06-17T22:41:00.000-07:00

As Hugh Grant says in Notting Hill, 'It's to do with the hair'. Love it!

TeXaS

2011-06-17T22:16:00.000-07:00

We had the BEST spring break this year! We spent a long weekend down in Texas visiting the Cobbers. Visited a strawberry farm, hit the beach, went to the space center and the boardwalk, and had a great time just hanging out.

Loved the plane...his excitement wore him out!

Thanks guys!!

Outside

2011-01-18T18:13:00.000-08:00

The weather has been so nice outside that we've been itching to do some fun things outside! Recently, we took Roman on his first trip to the zoo. He loved it!

We also went for a little hike up in the San Tans. Roman loved feeling like he was a part of the action!

Only a real man can wear a baby :)

Little Romer was asleep about 2 minutes into the hike! Apparently the thought of physical activity wears him out.

We found an old abandoned mine on our hike. So cool! I love hiking up in this park because there are so many different trails to check out- you can find something new every time.

Family picture

Can you spot the camouflage shoes?

Resolutions

2010-12-31T13:13:00.001-08:00

First of all, Happy New Year! I was thinking about what to resolve to do better this year, and while there are many things I could choose to try and do better at (like, hmmm, blogging?), I seem to get distracted every time I start to think about it by... life!

So, I think I'll go watch Eat Pray Love while folding the massive pile of laundry on my couch, and let you know if anything good comes to mind! If not, know I'll love spending the new year with my favorite people in this picture (minus the moustache!)

Project- Cabinets!

2010-12-31T13:02:00.001-08:00

Why I chose the hectic week of Christmas to redo my kitchen cabinets I'll never know, but I'm sure glad I did- I just love how they turned out!! I've always wated dark kitchen cabinets, and have been tossing around the idea of staining my cabinets darker for a while. But, all the staining, sanding, blah... sounded way too overwhelming!! Then, my mother-in-law gave us an awesome black hutch with a distressed paint job, and inspiration struck! I would do the cabinets to match. Here are the cabinets before:

A little painting, sanding, staining, and some varnish later... ta da!

Christmas!

2010-12-31T12:34:00.000-08:00

Christmas was great this year!! We were so glad that Tommy got to spend Christmas Day at home this year (he worked the past 2 years). We started out the festivities by spending Christmas Eve at Grandma DeeDee's, where we learned that Roman's favorite present would be the box :)

On Roman's very first Christmas morning, Santa spoiled him with a lot of presents!

We enjoyed spending the rest of the day with family. And, no Christmas season would be complete without a trip to the temple lights! We spent Christmas evening at the temple, remembering the reason for the season. It was a little past Roman's bedtime, and you can see him snuggled up inside my coat. He was so cuddly- he slept the whole time!

Merry Christmas!!

FALLING INTO FALL

2010-11-13T12:14:00.000-08:00

VETERAN'S DAY

Yay, fall is finally here! This week we have finally busted out the long sleeves, the thick blankets, and turned the heater on in the car in the morning. We have loved the nice weather, and celebrated Veteran's Day outdoors, fishing at the lake. (I should say Tommy fished, and I fished for some good pictures!) You can see what we both caught below :)

Waiting for those fish to bite...

Woo-hoo! A stinky catfish.

Yuck.

Ticklish

I think Roman had had enough of being my photography target!

My cute boys

He has found his feet! They are better than any toy, and I love it because they can't be dropped!

HALLOWEEN

Happy Halloween!

Roman and Gunner, the furry forest friends
We went to a Halloween carnival in Brie and Jason's neighborhood the night before Halloween. They had a lot of fun stuff for the kids, including a petting zoo. The kids loved it... and so did Tommy! I think he was the only adult in there, because he had decided he needed to catch that shy little potbelly pig and make it be a little friendlier. After chasing it for a few minutes, we all hear a high-pitched squeal- mission accomplished. Poor little pig!

PUMPKIN PATCH

Picking out our pumpkins at the pumpkin patch

My boys

CABIN TRIP

Rome's first trip to the cabin! Of course we had to take him to the swing

"Is it just me, or does this ravine look deeper every time?"

SCRUFFY THE CLOWN

Tommy's fire department put on a community night, and it was a lot of fun! In case you don't recognize the guy in the picture, it is the famous Scruffy the Clown. I was always a little creeped out by clowns, but the kids there loved him! There were a few that came up and asked to get their picture taken with him. Too funny! (and yes, he did the make-up himself, pretty impressive!)

Roman and Scruffy

Nice height!

Roman and Aunt Maggie

THUMB-SUCKER?

Oh my, did I mention my little sweetheart has turned into a hair-twirling, thumb-sucking baby? So cute, but I'm not looking forward to breaking that habit!

2010-10-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

Some new things from this past month:

#1: New Hat

#2: Super Saucer fun! Thanks Shani- he loves this toy!

#3: Rolling over. Just kidding, not quite there yet! He kind rolls onto his side though ;)

#4: Eating yummy food- I think this is squash. Go Rome Go!

#5: We like to send Tommy pictures when he is at work. This one is Roman saying 'I miss you!'

#6: Wrestling matches with Gunn.

#7: Tommy is already starting to train him for baseball. He's hoping to start 'the dream' at a very young age. Here is the 'sleep osmosis' technique!

#8 This month I started back to work. I got a little teary-eyed leaving the first morning, but it makes me treasure every moment I have with my baby at home even more. Love you Romey!

And, really? Snuggie for dogs?? Worst part is that I totally wanted to buy one.

First Haircut

2010-09-05T13:54:00.000-07:00

The time had come... my cute little baby boy had started looking less like an Elvis look-alike, and more like a wild hippie child from the 60's:

So, we got out the scissors and started chopping. Those sideburns were the first to go!

And the finished result. He looks more like his dad than ever!

2010-08-19T16:41:00.000-07:00

2 Month Stats:

Height: 22.5 25th%ile

Weight: 10 lb 12 oz 25th%ile

Head Circumference: 16.5 90th%ile

Yes, you read that right...my baby has a huge noggin. We suspected it with pics like this:

and the Drs confirmed, haha. Guess he'll be one smart cookie with a head that big!

Blessing Day

On August 2nd, Roman had his blessing, and his dad did a great job. You wouldn't guess it by this picture, but he actually slept peacefully through the whole thing.

Love to see his sweet smile

Photo Shoot

2010-07-17T11:54:00.001-07:00

Roman had his first photo shoot. Brie's friend Sara took some awesome pictures- thank you so much! I had a hard time choosing, so there are kind of a lot of pics- sorry :)

Holding my little chunker

Ro Ro and Gunner

Love this picture!

The place Sara took us to for the pictures was super cute

Hanging out in grungy firefighter gear

He posed his arms like this on his own. And, for some reason, he loved being in this stinky boot

Ah, my grumper baby

More Pictures

2010-07-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

Hi! It's been a busy few weeks- here is a re-cap in pictures:

Chillaxing with cousin Gunner. Roman's already trying to be cool like him- check out the pose :)
My sweet chubby-cheek boy! He loves sleeping in as much as I do. And chubby he is- he gained 10 ounces in one week!

Hanging out with the Sanfilippo cousins. The stroller fits them all perfectly!

Meeting Great-Grandma Grace

Not too sure about those baths yet...

I think he may have gotten his hair from Grandpa!

And last, I think this may be a sign that I've been taking too many pictures... haha

Have a great week!

He's Here!

2010-06-18T18:50:00.000-07:00

So, Monday evening I was standing in my kitchen talking to Brie, when- whoosh! Water breaks. Thank goodness there is tile in the kitchen- so gross! And thank goodness Brie was there- I think she kept me from going into shock! This was 11 days before my due date, and I had fully expected I would go past my due date and have to be induced, but my little baby had other plans. Tommy was at work, so we met him at the hospital after hurriedly throwing some things into a diaper bag! Contractions were already 2-4 minutes apart when they got me all hooked up at the hospital. But, Monday night came and went, and then Tuesday morning came and went, and still no baby! Around noon on Tuesday they decided to do a c-section because of lack of progress, and at 12:51 PM on June 15th, Roman Thomas Sanfilippo was born! Here are some pictures:

Dr. Tommy prepped for surgery :)

First picture of baby Roman!

Roman and Daddy catching some zzz's

Check out the 'hawk!

Meeting Uncle Damon, Aunt Rachel and Cousin Tanner

Snoozing away

All ready to head home from the hospital

Operation Baby Room- Complete!.....& Graduation :)

2010-05-23T17:22:00.001-07:00

The room is ready, now all we need is the baby!! Tommy did an awesome job of installing the chair rail- it turned out great. Here are some pics...we need that new panoramic camera that Taylor Swift uses in that commercial, but you'll just have to use your imagination:

Tommy refinished the crib too- sweet huh? He's turning into quite a handy man :)

Also in recent news- graduation! Yep, finally finished my time at ASU! It was pretty easy to pick me out walking across the stage in all my prego glory :)

This pic is blurry but it totally cracked me up- the guy at the bottom of the stairs was assisting people as they walked down, and when he saw me he put both hands out to make sure I wouldn't fall...guess I looked a little shaky in my heels!
Me & Kristen

Baby Pics

2010-04-30T03:48:00.000-07:00

Baby update- 32 weeks and counting!! Here are some pictures from the latest ultrasound.

Facial profile

I am totally aware this next one is a little creepy- 3d ultrasounds kind of weird me out! I think he kinda looks like the clay man from the Spiderman movie :) Kidding- I know he’s completely smushed in there and will be a lot more normal looking when he’s born…anyway, check out those chubby cheeks and LIPS! Can’t wait to meet him and smooch his cute little face!

He should be a good size baby- he’s measuring in the 75-80th percentile in his ultrasound pictures! He’ll probably be able to beat up on his 6-month old cousin Journey from the day he’s born :)

Anni-Scottsdale-versary!

2010-04-30T03:43:00.000-07:00

April 18 marked our 2 year anniversary! Tommy and I have enjoyed a great two years together and have been so blessed- we can’t wait for the years to come! We celebrated by taking it easy at a resort in Scottsdale for the weekend. It was great to enjoy the warm weather, hang out by the pool, and go out to a nice dinner.

Hannah

2010-04-30T03:38:00.000-07:00

Poor Hannah! I got home from class one Friday to find her looking like this….

This is about 3x the size of her normal face! I was worried she had gotten bit by a snake in the backyard, so of course called my mom to check her out (it’s great how her nursing expertise extends to all situations, even animals). She assured me she would be fine, which she was by morning, and that it was probably only an ant bite or bee sting. Poor puppy! It didn’t seem to bother her at all, except for a few times when she would be running and fall on her face because of the new added weight in the front part of her body!

Spring Break= Baseball Time

2010-04-30T03:10:00.000-07:00

Tommy’s family joined us for spring break. It was tons of fun to get to see everyone and, of course, get in some quality baseball time! We took in a Dodgers spring training game, and watched Tommy’s cousin Dillon play in a tournament that weekend.

Enjoying the game from lawn seats

Tommy's adorable niece Lucy aka Lulu

Dillon looking fierce on the pitcher’s mound!

Where has February Gone?

2010-02-28T14:32:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's the end of the month already! Rather than bore you with details of what's been going on with school/work for me and Tommy (basically, they are still there, although the countdown to May and graduation are now on- Yay for May!), I thought I'd put up some random pics:

We have started putting in the garden. Here is the salsa section- my mouth is watering already!

Mmmm tomatoes

And, out of necessity for the life of the plants, this area is a Puppy-free zone. Zoey is heart-broken about this!

This is currently my favorite baby picture- I just love the downward angle, and that you can see his cute little nose and feet! Speaking of feet- He's a kicker! I love being able to feel him move throughout the day and know that everything is ok...I could pass on feeling him all throughout the night though!

And, just for fun- can you find the Tommy in this picture??

2010-02-01T15:47:00.000-08:00

In Sanfilippo news...we are officially having a boy! I wish I had some cute ultrasound pics to post, but...we got:
1-scary alien face picture
3-pictures showing we are DEFINITELY having a boy!
Since he was upside-down, facing backwards, curled into a ball, and not cooperating too much in the ultrasound, we get to go back next week to make sure all his insides are accounted for! Maybe we'll get some better pictures this time!

Oh, and in other news- London's Run was this past weekend! Brie and Brooke and I ran it together, and only added about 5 minutes onto our past year's race time... for 2 pregos and 1 with a 3-month old baby, we were pretty happy with that. However, I think I may be retiring from running for the next few months...

SNOW

2010-01-12T18:29:00.000-08:00

My cousin's son David had his 1st birthday this weekend, and they celebrated with 2 tons of snow in the backyard! Unfortunately, the birthday boy wasn't too fond of the snow...here he is trying to escape the snowballs in his little car...

Here are some random pics of the cousin kids (and adults) enjoying the snow!

Khendra and Steve- thanks for inviting us over for the fun!

Hey Y'all

2010-01-12T18:25:00.000-08:00

The move date to Texas for the Cobbers arrived... here is a group pic of some of the cousins. Have fun in Texas- we miss you and can't wait for a visit!

View from the top

2010-01-12T18:11:00.000-08:00

Tommy and I took advantage of one of these nice winter days and took the puppies for a hike up the San Tans! BEAUTIFUL!

This one's for you Brie- Hannah finally made it onto the blog without being blocked by Zoey!!

Christmas Eve

2010-01-12T17:53:00.000-08:00

This year, Tommy worked on Chistmas day so we spent Chrstmas Eve with his family and it was tons of fun! Tommy's mom always buys the girls some matching pjs...

Good thing we look good in polka dots :) Thanks for the comfy pjs Dorothy! We were lucky to have Kim and her girls Lexie and Missy with us this year!!

No Foolin' this Time!

2009-12-15T16:48:00.001-08:00

Tommy and I had a pretty sweet April Fools' joke this past year, so we figured we should provide some sort of proof this time...

Baby Sanfilippo is due to join our family around June 25, 2010. We can't wait to meet baby!

It's almost time...

2009-11-18T19:04:00.000-08:00

That's right, it's almost time for moving day! Hopefully when it actually comes time to move, it goes smoother than this- PIVOT!! I am a little frustrated right now- purchasing a foreclosure can be tricky if you're trying to get an actual closing date from a bank, apparently... Anyway, we hope to be in this weekend so we can get a little settled in before the holidays. Wish us luck!!

Home :)

View of the mountains from the porch

Fun at the CaBiN

2009-10-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

We were just getting ready to leave the cabin to head out for dinner when Tommy spotted a little herd of deer out the back window. Hi Bambi!

Extra points if you can spot the deer in this one!

Who's ready for Turkey Day? These guys better go into hiding soon!

Well, the cabin's great for seeing wildlife, but it's great for adventure too! We found the old rope swing we used to go on, and the fact that the tree was half burned up in a wildfire only adds to the adventure, right? Also note the thorny ravine below...

I love this picture- it reminds me of hunting magazines where the hunter is kneeling over their prey with the nature scene in the background.

We *tried* to take some cute pics, but putting animals in the mix complicates things a little!

Goodbye 'til next time! Love, The Sanfilippos

What we've been up to...

2009-10-04T15:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to me!! I am officially the big 2-4. Tommy and I had a great date night on my birthday! Things have been so busy it was nice just to have a calm night out. The rest of the weekend was great too- thank you to family and friends for making it great!!

Ah, I couldn't resist posting this pic of Zoey from the Higley football game. Tommy was a little upset I had the mascot wearing a skirt (which is adorable by the way, thanks Brie!!), but I didn't think there was a problem having her be fierce and feminine! This is the 21st century ;)

School's Out for the Summer!!

2009-07-03T10:03:00.000-07:00

(You have to sing the title to the alice cooper song tune)! This is just a little celebratory post that the intense 5 week summer school is OVER!! I somehow completed 2 classes and clinic with adults. Thanks Tommy Boy for putting up with my grump, stressed-out self! Now time to celebrate in Cali- YAY! Happy 4th everyone!

Memorial Day

2009-06-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day + Colorado River = a weekend of fun!

Tommy and I headed up for a weekend of relaxation and fishing fun. Here are a couple of his catches:

Nice Catch!

I love the facial expression here. Definitely NOT a good catch!

He almost caught a 50 pounder!

I'm not much of a fisher, but I found ways to entertain myself- mainly by taking random pictures:

Teaching Zoey how to swim

And, teaching Zoey to take pictures!! She's pretty good :)

Things I LOVE!

2009-05-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

A few things that are making me smile this week, in no particular order:

This past Saturday, Tommy and I turned our regular old fridge into a CHALKBOARD FRIDGE- and I love it! It took a little convincing to get Tommy on board for this project, but it was worth it. And, it was surprisingly easy to do! It’s perfect for leaving little love notes in the morning :) I'm not sure this picture quite does it justice- we got a little carried away, so it's a little cluttered!

Our GARDEN! It’s been a few months since we planted, and we are now starting to see the fruits (and vegetables) of our labors! The squash have taken off, and I have had fun trying out some zucchini recipes- bread, muffins, baked squash- you name it, I’ve tried it! Don’t be surprised if you get some goodies coming your way- the watermelon, peas, tomatoes, and chilis are starting to bloom now…

SUMMER- of course that makes me smile!! Yesterday I took my last final of the semester!!! Although I still have a lot of work ahead of me, I am taking this chance to be SO grateful that I’ve made it through the first year of grad school. It’s definitely been a rough road, but with the help of Tommy and my family I’m almost halfway to getting my degree. Thanks for keeping me on track and not letting me give up!!

Darius Rucker, aka HOOTIE: is anyone else so delighted that he transferred over to country?? This song you’re listening to now is my new favorite!

Here's a little adventure that happened today that made me laugh at myself- sometimes I can be so embarrasing! Today, I had to go in to the doctor and get a few immunizations so I can work at ASU's speech clinic this summer. Now, I know that I have a wimpy stomach, and tend to get sick if I get my blood drawn. Today, I just had to get a few shots though, should be no problem, I mean kindergarteners get that done, right?? Anyway, I happen to look while the nurse is poking me, and see a little drop of blood. No big deal, I hold it together until I get out of the office, and then by the time I'm out to the waiting room, I'm really sweaty, and not seeing quite right. I run back to the restroom, and...Yep, I threw up. Is that not pathetic? I thought I'd eventually grow out of that, but apparently not. I better toughen up before I have kids- I can't imagine getting blood drawn every few weeks- yikes!!

Holy Moly!

2009-04-26T20:58:00.000-07:00

Holy Moly! It's already been (over) a year! Tommy and I celebrated our 1st anniversary last Saturday, April 18th. It is so hard to believe we have already made it through one year of marriage- it seems like just yesterday we got engaged! This year has been full of so many exciting events, and I am so lucky to have such a hard-working, loving, fun, supportive and patient husband. I love you baby! Here's to many years to come!

So, a great way to start out an anniversary is with a 4.2 mile run, right? I thought so too! Brie and I decided to do Pat's Run, and it was really cool! There was one point when you are running slightly uphill on a bridge over Tempe Town Lake, and you can see THOUSANDS of runners filling the road ahead of you- it was all I could do to keep my sappy self from crying! The run organizers pay this company to take your picture as you cross the finish line on ASU's football field, but I think they should get their money back- the picture is definitely NOT of me! Haha, I guess you'll have to take my word for it that I actually crossed the finish!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T10:07:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter! Hope everyone has an excellent holiday.

Time For A . . . . .

2009-04-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

We were planning on waiting until

I was done with school

but

some things just can't wait.

Yes,

you guessed it, there is a

bun in the oven!

JK- APRIL FOOLS! No baby for a while :)

the SUNS game

2009-03-22T20:33:00.000-07:00

Ha! This picture cracks me up, because it seriously looks like Tommy and I were photo-shopped in!

But, we really did go to the Suns game Saturday night. It was between the Suns and the Wizards, and we stomped them! Really, the final score was like 128-96, and Jason Richardson (I'd never heard of him before the game) scored 30 points! It was super fun, and was actually Tommy's first time at an NBA game! We were hoping we might score some free stuff, but had to laugh when the entire section to the right of us won free shirts, and the people sitting just on our left had a visit from some important guy in a suit and won a backpack full of goods. Really, what's the deal? Just kidding, it was still a lot of fun, and an excellent date night!

The view from up in the sky, the right way to watch a SUNS game :)

Spring Break~ ROAD TRIP!

2009-03-18T20:25:00.000-07:00

Tommy and I spent our spring break traveling to Utah! We kind of got it backward- leaving somewhere that is nice and toasty to go somewhere you can't even wear flip-flops! But, it was still a lot of fun to go and visit (or in my case, meet) a bunch of companions from his mission that are now studing at BYU. I majorly regret that I did not bust out the camera to take more pics!! Anyway, we also got to spend some time checking out the beautiful sights in Temple Square, like the Salt Lake Temple, Brigham Young's house, and the Tabernacle.

Congrats!~'Tis the Season~Happy New Year!~One Fat Dog

2009-01-19T08:56:00.000-08:00

Yep, we're covering all that and more in just one little (or not so little) post! To begin with- Tommy did survive his last week of the fire-fighting academy, and I couldn't be more proud of him! He has been on shift now for about a month, has already seen some crazy things (crazy like he needs to edit the gory details before sharing them with me), and LOVES his job.

I have to admit, I love it too- we get to spend a lot of time together, and he has time to do some awesome projects. Remember that before picture of the backyard- aka the wilderness?

Here it is, all completed!

And, I asked Tommy to leave me a little space for a garden in the back corner. I can't wait 'til it gets warm enough to start planting.

Another reason I love the holidays- seeing old friends! Heather is enjoying her new life as a Texan, but we love when she gets to come back to visit!

Christmas lights at the temple: Tommy and I went over after some last-minute Christmas shopping, and our not-so-patient selves couldn't really stand the thought of waiting until it was really dark to see the lights. So, we can tell you- they are pretty at dusk too!! We were glad we went and got a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas.

Tommy and I had fun opening presents at his parents house on Christmas Eve. His mom is so awesome, and loves to get the girls in the family matching PJs.

I especially love the attention to detail- we even get matching socks! It really makes you feel like part of the family.

Tommy and I headed home and opened our own Christmas presents that night too. He was working in the morning, and anyone who knows me, knows that it is best, if at all possible, to let me have my morning beauty sleep! So, a 5 am wake-up to open presents was out of the question- we took care of those presents the night before.

Even Zoey got to open some presents. She loved her treats! Perhaps a little too much. At her last visit, she weighed 59.4 lbs, which is officially overweight!! The poor little girl has been sentenced to a diet. I guess she gets to take part in the New Years Resolution weight loss game too!

SNOW!! I can only remember a few times of getting to watch it actually falling, and it was so graceful and beautiful. The cabin looked so serene and perfect!

My older brother Damon just hit the big 3-0. Holy moly! But, he rang it in in style, and the kids LOVED breaking open the '30' pinata. Here is Princess Gracen taking a whack at it.

The boys:

McKinna has great form!

Grandpa and Skinnie Minnie

Happy Birthday Damon! Hope you have a great 30 more!

'Til next time- goodbye!

F-A-M-I-L-Y Night!

2008-12-17T17:38:00.000-08:00

Yay- Tommy is almost finished with the fire academy! I'm so proud of you Tommy Boy! Last Friday, they held a family night so we could all come and see what Tommy has been learning about for the past 17 weeks.

Tommy has such a supportive family- you guys are awesome!

We even got to check out the inside of the trucks!

Tommy's crew was responsible for putting out the car fire.

Isn't this silhouette cool? I can't imagine having to go in that building. It was really neat to go and see what Tommy has been telling me about first-hand, but it made me kind of worried about him!

The kids loved seeing Uncle Tommy...

...make that most of the kids, anyway.

Ahhh...so good!

2008-12-10T15:26:00.000-08:00

I finally convinced Tommy Boy to go see Twilight. I've read all the books and loved them, so I wasn't too sure what to expect from the movies. I had heard a lot of mixed reviews, but- it was awesome! I LOVE the boy who played Edward, he was so perfect for the part. And, although it missed some minor story elements you get in the book, it felt so much more action-packed as it jumped from one major plot event to the next- so good! Here is a picture-Make that 2 pictures- Edward looks really cute in the second one (not as cute as Tommy Boy, of course!)It took a little while for me to get used to how the characters looked in the movie versus how they looked in my head, but once I got over that it was great! Well, this post has successfully helped me procrastinate studying for finals long enough...I'm out!

'Tis the Season- Wedding Season!

2008-11-24T15:50:00.000-08:00

My cousin Kason and his lovely wife Kali got married last weekend. The reception was beautiful! Here are some pics from outside the temple, of them and the 'McKinnon' girls. I couldn't resist putting a few in there- you guys are so cute!

Tommy's cousin Billy just got married to the lovely Kim 2 weeks back in Hawaii, so this past weekend they had a fancy brunch to celebrate the occasion. Tommy and I hit the road on Saturday afternoon, and arrived at his aunt's house in Fullerton around 9 pm. The next morning we had a ton of fun at the brunch- it was at a gorgeous, fancy golf course. Here are some pictures from the brunch:

Tommy and I chillin'

Maggie-Moo and Missy

Dan and cheesy Chucky

It's a smooch sandwich!

Group Shot

This is a nice shot up Tommy's nostrils- and can you see Chucky's crazy eye??

Our Zoey baby displaying her true skunky colors

2008-11-07T15:45:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I have been somewhat of a blog-slacker for a while, and here is my attempt at redeeming myself! Prepare yourself for a random and hopefully entertaining look at the past month :)

The 'So You Think You Can Dance' performance was awesome! Here are some pics from some of my favorite dances-
This song totally made me cry!

Me and Em went for her birthday. It was expensive, but so worth it!

Tommy and I went to a pumpkin patch and picked out a monster! I could not stop cracking up when Tommy safety-belted it into the car. No worries- it made it home safely.

My old co-worker from Wells Fargo finally got married! Congrats James and Gretchen. Everything was SO beautiful- just check out that sunset! It was great to see everyone and have a work reunion :)

Emily and Marcela look so cute here!

Here is our lovely backyard (aka- the wilderness). Jason is awesome and helped us put in a sprinkler system. We will have some all-finished pictures up soon!

Van and Landon had a blast making 'dirt angels' in the soft dirt- so gross!!

Vinyl lettering is awesome! I dressed up our bathroom a little bit with this cute saying, and I'm afraid it's started a new addiction- I already have words up on my front door and in the bedroom- Yikes!

COmpletely random, I know- but hope you enjoyed it!

Get out of Here!

2008-09-30T21:46:00.000-07:00

Tommy and I decided a change of scenery would be great, so we took the freeway out of town and chilled in Show Low for the weekend! Here are some pics from the trip...look close, you can see Van standing happily moments before Zoey thiefed his Pop-Tart Ah, here is the rare Tommy-Boy monkey attempting to hop up onto the second floor of the cabin! We sort of got locked out, and had to climb up to the top floor. Unfortunately, this tactic wasn't quite successful, so I got back in touch with my cheerleader roots, and Tommy partner-lifted me up- yikes!!
Did you know horny-toads bleed out of their eyes when they get frightened? Me neither, but this poor guy did after we were through with him...
And, I had to steal this picture from Brie's blog because I LOVE it! Her and Jason were awesome, and helped get Zoey up to the cabin, even though she can be a bit of a handful. Thanks guys!!

An oldie but a goodie

2008-09-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

This post is a little late, but better late than never! Here is a photo of Tommy and Zoey at QC's first home football game. I was so proud of my little family running out on the field, and I may be a tad partial, but I really think Zoey stole the show!

Old...but lucky!

2008-09-30T15:27:00.000-07:00

Another birthday has rolled around, and it was great! Tommy surprised me by decorating the house and having a snazzy cake waiting for me when I got home from work, and then we went out to dinner with our friends Emily and Jack at one of the best restaurants of all time- BJ's!!

And, I know it's not quite Halloween yet, but I have been itching to put up the fun/scary decorations for like a month now- but I have been prohibited to until today!! My sister-in-law Erin might be even more excited than me- she put hers up two weeks ago, and she made this sweet Halloween decoration that I absolutely love- I had to show it here:

I don't think the picture does it full justice, but trust me, it's adorable! Thanks Erin! You can check out her other Glitzy creations here- http://glitzdesignerin.blogspot.com/.

Tommy Got Stoned...Kidney-Stoned!

2008-09-03T20:05:00.000-07:00

So, Tommy Boy woke me up at 1 o'clock (that's right- AM!) on Saturday, the beginning to our holiday weekend, and tells me his side hurts and he needs to go to the doctor. He had gone through all of his medical books, and decided he had kidney stones. Now, I half-way open my eyes, and in my head I'm drifting back a few years to when my sister had kidney stones. She's got a massively high tolerance for pain, but I remember her not looking so hot when she was passing the stones...so I proceed to tell Tommy that he needs to be sicker than that if I'm going to believe he's got kidney stones, and to go back to sleep (did I mention waking me up is NEVER a good idea if you want sympathy?? lol, poor guy!) . So anyway, he spends a sleepless night and finally wakes me up again at 5 in the morning to request another doctor visit. This time I give in, and...

Uh-huh, that's his hospital bracelet! The CT scan confirmed that Tommy did, in fact, have kidney stones, and actually finished passing them before we made it to the hospital to get him some pain drugs! Now I officially know that I am married to one tough guy ;)

Photo Shoots & First Days

2008-08-25T20:34:00.000-07:00

So, who would have thought it would be so hard to get a few good pictures of a little puppy? Our little bulldog is going to be the mascot for the Queen Creek High School, and they asked for a few pics of her. Here are some attempts...

Anyway... today was Tommy's first official day of academy for the fire department! So, of course, I made him take a picture with his backpack before he left for class-

FireWorks

2008-07-12T13:16:00.000-07:00

For the 4th of July weekend, Tommy and I went to California and had a great time with his family. We hung out at the beach and got trampled by some killer waves, headed to Wild Rivers, the water park where Tommy used to work as their mascot, the otter! And, on the 4th we watched an Angels game and checked out the fireworks afterwards. Here is Tommy and little Olivia, his brother Lawrence and Aubrey's adorable little girl decked out in her patriotic best!

Honeymoon(s)!

2008-07-12T11:45:00.000-07:00

Tommy and I were super lucky, and got to go to Sedona for our honeymoon, and then to Hawaii a few months later! Both were really fun.

In Sedona, we went on a short (yet grueling!) hike up this gorgeous mountain. We also went on a jeep tour that took us up on this hill overlooking the entire city. I think our guide, a retired army gentleman, missed all the army adventures from his past, and wanted to make up for it by going mach speed up the bumpity mountain! A little scary, but way fun.

Here is the view from the super windy top of the mountain!

We found some sweet authentic petroglyphs too!

H a W a I i

We stayed in a beautiful resort that was situated around a sea-turtle filled bay. One of the coolest parts though, was how vacationers would get travel the mile from the front lobby to their room- by monorail! Yep, just like at Disneyland. It sounds really cool, but they only travel about 3 mph, which was kind of disappointing to me! Here's a pic of me and Tommy looking cheesy inside of one of the cabs.

There is so much beautiful scenery to see on the island, and it helped Tommy and I discover our Tarzan and Jane roots!

There is an active volcano on the island that emits constant steam into the air as the lava meets the cold ocean. The volcanic rock is really cool, and we wanted to sneak some home. But, we heard about the 'Curse of Pele', and decided that would not be a good way to start off a marriage...so we took a picture instead and threw it out the window.

Just thought I'd throw in a picture of my handsome Tommy...and here is the view from the top of the volcano- sort of looks like the Land Before Time huh? I kept thinking we'd see some dinosaurs...

And last but not least, here is our honeymoon baby! Her name is Zoey, and (scandalous!)- she was actually born about 2 weeks before our wedding-yikes!

jUsT mArRiEd

2008-05-16T16:50:00.000-07:00

That's right, we finally did it! On April 18, Tommy and I got married and had a fun reception out at Power Ranch Barn. The food was awesome, the dancing was fun, the night was perfect, until...Landon fell in the lake! YIKES! But other than that, everything went great, and we were so glad we got to see so many people that we haven't for a while :)