What do you do on a Friday night when you don't have any plans?

And one more just because I like it... Very typical Madison. Mommy's shoes, purse, backpack and no pants.

What just happened?

The weirdest thing just happened.

Maddie just asked to go to bed a half hour before her bed time.

Weekend with my sister Heidi

Ok first off, is it legal to copy and paste someones entire blog entry on to my own blog? Well even if it's not I'm going to do it anyay. This was from my mom's blog of our weekend with my sister Heidi who was here from Portland. We only get to see her about once or twice a year so it was a lot of fun to get to spend time with her.

As seen on ThIs blog

We had a nice reunion with ALL of our children [family] home for the weekend!

(Heidi came from Portland. Yeah!)

In three short days we crammed in a LOT of Fun including:

Bowling with the Bairds

Lunch at Costa Vida

Hockey at the E Center (with cousin Brett)

Board games

Cooking Navajo Tacos

Playing with Maddie

Ham dinner with the Grandparents(and our favorite Johnson sisters)

Midnight trips to the drug store for Maddie's medicine and a humidifier [Two different nights]

(Ok, that part wasn't fun)

Hanging out and catching up

Laughing

Thanks to both Mom and Michelle... Mom for the pictures and the writing and Michelle for your pictures.

New Wedding Ring

A couple weeks ago I took my ring in to get it re pronged because after almost 3 years of being worn by ME the prongs were almost completely worn down. I finally got my ring back today and I was ShOcKeD... it looked like a brand new ring. It looks BeAuTiFuL! They re gold-plated it and buffered it up to get rid of all the scratches and cleaned it very well. Even the diamonds sparkle more then they have for a long time. I just wanted to share my excitement.

New Obsession

Last week my friend Erin had Madison and I come over to her house and while we were there she taught me how to make baby bracelets- you wouldn't think it is something you would need to be taught but it sure makes it easier to know how to do it right. Well basically I am now obsessed. I went home that day and told Karl that I was officially going to start making bracelets and that I needed to get all of the supplies to start. $40 later, I am officially a beader. I love it. P.S. If you are pregnant and going to be having a baby girl anytime soon, expect to be getting some cute bracelets from me.

And just for fun, here are some pictures of my other obsession. The other day Maddie thought that by hiding under my computer desk that I wouldn't be able to see her picking her nose... boy was she wrong.

And this is Madison's new rain coat she got for Valentine's day. Isn't she cute?

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day this year ended up being quite different then I had expected it to be. I had been making plans for a while on what I could do that would be special. I searched for the perfect gift for both Karl and Madison, was going to make cute Valentine's cards to send out to our friends, and had a really yummy/romantic (as romantic as you can be with an 18 month old around) special dinner I was going to cook for Karl and Madison which in the end ALL fell through. I couldn't seem to find the right gift for Karl... Madison was teething (she got FiVe new teeth this week- which makes a total of 11 teeth now) and she didn't want to pose like I wanted her to for pictures... I had to work on Saturday and had a surprise visit from my best friend Charlyn and her husband Scott on Friday which meant that things didn't happen as I had previously thought. We did however still have a wonderful weekend full of food, fun and family and friends.

The festivities began Friday when Kaylyn and Maleah came over to help Madison and I make the traditional HeArT ShApEd sugar cookies for Valentine's. The girl's had lots of fun playing in the dough and getting messy and the cookies tasted great.

Then later Friday afternoon I got a call from Charlyn. We knew that she and Scott were coming up this weekend to stay in a Bed and Breakfast but what they didn't know was that their Bed and Breakfast entailed a blow up mattress and a cardboard table. When they got to the hotel they quickly discovered that their reservation was not actually until the next night. Lucky for them we were kind enough to let them stay with us. So that evening we dropped Mads off with the grandparents and went on a double date to one of mine and Karl's favorite restaurants, Cafe Sabor. It was really fun to get out without Madison and get to spend time with other adults.
Saturday morning I decided to be creative and cooked pink-heart shaped pancakes for breakfast. They actually ended up looking more like pink blobs but it was still more fun to eat them just because they were pink. I decided a while ago that I wanted to start doing this every year for my family but hope that as the years go on I can actually master the heart shape.

After breakfast I got a call from my brother Andrew and his girlfriend Irene who -Just so happened- to be in the neighborhood. Unfortunately we were only able to spend about an hour with them because I had to go to work. Karl got to stay home with Maddie and when I when I came home I found this. -A clean kitchen AND a pretty flower in a balloon.-

This was a real surprise because Karl told me when we got married that he would never give me flowers on Valentine's day because it was too over done, so I definitely did not expect it. The rest of the evening we just decided to take it easy. I was tired from working all day and we didn't want to spend much more money so we had Arby's french dip sandwiches for dinner instead of the gourmet Salmon dinner I was originally going to make.
Thank you Karl for the wonderful weekend. You really are my one true love!

Our Love Story

My sister-in-law Lacey, did this on her blog and suggested that we too join in on the fun. The point: Since this weekend is Valentine's Day, share your 'Romance Story' of how you met your one true Valentine. So here it goes. hOw We mEt: The condensed version- When I moved up to Logan my freshman year of college I never even imagined that within the next year I would be married, and neither did my parents. They sent me off with no worries because my brother had been in the same ward I was going to be in the year before. He would always tell us how great his ward was and how amazing the bishopric was so they figured I’d be safe. The problem though, is that Karl’s dad was one of those amazing members of the bishopric. Karl’s sister, who was also in the ward, and I became pretty good friends. I found out later that she had gone home one evening after meeting me and announced to her family, everyone except for Karl, that she had found the perfect girl for him to marry. She called up her sister and said we all better start praying for something to happen between these two. Karl and I started hanging out and became pretty good friends but I never even thought about anything happening between us because he liked one of my good friends. Now I would probably say this was a blessing because this gave us the opportunity to get to know each other outside of the dating world. It wasn’t until January that Karl finally asked me on our first date. Still at this point I was just thinking we were friends because Karl took everyone out on dates but when he kept asking me out I started figuring something was up. (He later informed me that he almost didn't ask me out again because he thought I liked another one of our friends) We started going out quite a bit until one day I realized that our relationship was heading in a direction I wasn’t sure I was ready to go. So I decided to write him a letter telling him how I felt and that I wanted to take things a little slower and just get to know each other better. When Karl got this letter he took it as I didn’t want to date him anymore and didn’t know how to say it nicely. It was also at this time that Karl decided he was going to swear off dating for at least the next month or two. Two days later my best friend Charlyn got married and Karl had promised me he would come to Salt Lake for the wedding but since he thought I didn't want to date him he wasn't going to come. He finally decided he had to come since he had already promised me he would... and it's a good thing he did. After the wedding he was going to drive me home but then we decided that we weren't ready to go home yet so we decided to go to dinner instead. Karl informed me that this was not a date since he had sworn of dating- even though he still paid for me and opened my doors and did all of the normal date like behaviors. After dinner while driving me home Karl decided that he didn't want to drive all the way back to Logan and my parents had already told him he could stay the night at our house so he decided to call his parents and tell them that he was going to stay the night at "Andrew's house." (Andrew is my brother that his parents knew from the singles ward) It was that night that we officially started dating and to much surprise to both of our families, one month after that we were engaged.

(Us at Charlyn's Wedding)oUr FiRsT dAtE- For our first date Karl took me to the musical version of Little Women at a local theater and to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants Cafe Sabor. It was a wonderful evening and even though Karl will deny it, he actually held my hand on our first date. He kept tickling my side and I kept pushing his hand away and all of a sudden we were holding hands. Something that I didn't know then that I'm glad I didn't know was that Karl's sisters were actually at the play that night too and had fun trying to see how our date was going.oUr FiRsT kIsS- Our first kiss wasn't quite as awkward as I would have expected it to be- even though I guess it probably should have been. We were at my apartment watching a movie with Karl's friend Dale. He was sitting in front of us- and I actually think he had fallen asleep. I guess the moment was right because we both went in for the kiss at the same time.

(Since we don't actually have a picture for this, here is one from our reception

tHe EnGaGeMeNt- Another night, while watching a movie at my apartment Karl and I had the discussion he likes to call "Toilet or Temple." We had gotten to that point in our relationship where we either needed to end it or get married. I know it seems crazy that after only a few short months we could already be having this discussion but we both felt the same way, we LoVed eachother and wanted to spend time and all eternity together. Since we already knew we wanted to get married Karl let me help choose my wedding ring. We actually ended up finding a ring we liked at one place and a diamond we liked at another. (His dad used to work for this diamond company while he was going to school so we could get a better deal for the diamond there) The man at the ring shop told me it would take about 2 weeks for them to get the diamond put into the ring so we would have to wait for a while before I got the ring. The next week was spring break so I went home for the week but Karl had to work so he stayed in Logan. On Thursday Karl came down to spend the rest of the weekend with me. Since it had been a few days since we had seen eachother he told me to choose a fun park we could go to and have a picnic at and he would bring the food. So were did I choose to go? The good ol' West Valley City park... so romantic. So we get out of the car and car has me carry the blanket up to the top of the hill and he was carrying a cooler. When we got to the top he asked me to start getting the food out while he did something else. When I opened the cooler this is what I found.His mom had made this pillow that said Will you marry me on it and the ring -which I didn't think I would have for another week- was attached to the pillow. (The flamingo's are because I like pink flamingo's so his mom thought it would be fun)wHy I lOvE hIm- There are so many reasons why I fell in love my husband and continue to fall even more in love with him as the days go by but here are just a few. He is such a kind, gentle person who cares so much for everyone he knows. He is a really good friend- especially to those that other people may stray away from because they are different. He is so sweet and knows how to make me feel special. He tells me everyday that I am BeAuTiFuL and leaves me with no doubt that he really does feel that way. He is tall. He still takes me on dates all the time- even though we are no longer newly weds and have an 18 month old child. He sacrifices so much for his family and is willing to do whatever it takes so that I can stay home with our daughter. He brings me flowers or other SpEcIaL presents randomly just to remind me of how much he loves me. I love that when Karl makes up his mind about doing something he actually follows through. I love his dedication to the gospel and how he always helps me to do what's right. I love that he is a worthy priesthood holder and is always ready to use that authority. And last but not least, I love Karl because he is who he is.

HaPpY VaLeNtInE's

Miss Independent

We finally did it. We have been talking about doing it for quite some time now so since we just got our tax return back we finally decided to go ahead and do it. Now what is "it" that we finally did you may ask? We finally bought Madison her very own BiG GiRl bed. We learned a long time ago that Madison does not like being constrained and so we often times are searching for ideas as to how we can get Madison to do what she needs to do but still feel like she is in control of the situation. I think my sister-in-law Lacey said it best when she said this referring to what they teach in child development classes about giving your child two options to choose from. "Madison is going to be one of those kids that when you ask if she wants to put her coat on forwards or backwards she will choose to put it on backwards." Since Madison has been acting ready for a big girl bed for quite some time, we figured now would be a good time to give it a shot. So this last week I decided to make a quilt for Madison's new bed and then on Friday we were able to go and buy the new bed. Madison LoVeS it and does ReAlLy well with it. She hasn't even tried once to escape from bed when we put her down for her naps or bedtime and she hasn't fallen off of the bed yet either. And when she wakes up she just sits up in bed and yells for me to come get her- it is so sweet I love it.

Just For You

okay so the first 5 people to respond to this post will receive something made by me to you. my choice. made especially for you. of course there are some restrictions and limitations:

1 i make no guarantees that you will like what i make! 2 what i create will be just for you. 3 it will be done sometime this year. 4 you have no clue what it will be... it may be a story. it may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. i may draw or paint something. i may bake something and mail it to you. who knows? not you, that's for sure. 5 i reserve the right to do something extremely strange. the catch? oh the catch is that you must re post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on their blog. the first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did will win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!!

oh and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!!

Snow Bunnies

Since my last post had so much writing this post is going to have very little writing and LoTs of pictures. These are from our photoshoot up the canyon with Madison and Maleah last week.