testing.

just testing how to make pictures bigger.
oh, and don't you love yawns?

throats that are sore...

ok, let's talk real life here for a minute.

when you have a sore throat, and you know it probably will be turning into a full fledged cold, what do you do? do you start taking decongestants right away? do you pop in a "throat lozenge", call it good, and wait for the inevitable? just curious to know if pre-emptive (sp?) measures, like taking decongestants, will make the cold go away before it gets too hairy.

And, while we are on the subject what do you take when? For example, when I was pregnant and sick with a cold, my doctor told me to take some decongestants, like Sudafed, AND also stuff like Mucinex. Now, I do not profess to know much in the medicine department, but don't decongestants help to (pardon the gross-ness) help to make the liquid dry up a little bit, and then doesn't Mucinex help to break up the yuck to make it more liquidy?

This is disgusting. My eyes are watering just thinking about it. And, does any of this make any sense?

So, my conclusion is to do one or the other... but taking both seems like nonsense. Any one want to enlighten me?

p.s. thanks to the Mucinex character. I thought you all would appreciate the sick picture.

good times. good times.

wow. let's give a round of applause for Aaron and his beautiful post.

let's take a time out in honor of his goodness.

***

this is us, taking a time out.

***

thanks, dude. xoxoxo.

now, I know. you keep checking, and you find nothing new. But, friends, there have been SO many things going on. It's CaaaRRAAAzZzY.

first off, thanks for all the well wishes on and around my birthday. It was a good one, and I am one lucky duck. There is a song by Elizabeth Mitchell (who is practically my favorite ALL around singer) that is entitled, "So Glad I'm Here." (just click on "Sunshine" and then click "Listen" -- it is the top song on the list. That's how you can hear the song in it's entirety).

That pretty much sums up my life at this moment in time.

I discovered this singer during my last year at BYU and did a few pieces of art with this theme "so glad I'm here." Maybe I'll post some of them one day. But, not today. Because there is so many other things to post. But, the sentiment rings true.

My friends, life is good.

Here are some images to prove it. Little Lizzy came down to Tejas for a little stay. So, that is why there are lots of photos with her too.

yes, lizzy is silly for tillie and tillie happens to be dizzy for lizzy.

baby shower goodness. here are some pictures to get excited for more babies in life!

these are from Erin Smith and Kajsa Nielson's shower. They are both having girls!

tags made by me. ribbon found by mandee. filled with delicious taffies and assembled by lizzy.

good work team.

incredible cake made by krista. you go girl. it was delicious too!

two diaper cakes for two deserving little mommas. one for kajsa. the other for erin. both made by mandee.

the cake balls I made were a disaster. nice that we spent about a GAZILLION hours on them too. love that. but, kristen made such WONDERFUL "savory" --- and plus we had this amazing cake and other goodies, so it was okay. Let's talk about what a great twist on the typical "shower food" when you add an Asian kick to it. Way to be, Kristen.

now onto the next event. we have been to Sea World a bunch this last little bit. Here are some pictures from a few of our trips.

lizzy wanted to get some action shots. after a few failed attempts, she handed the camera to the pro (Yes, that's me). Thanks, Shamu, for making me look like the pro photographer that I really am.

But, I had to hurry while taking it, because in the next shot, you'll see why...

yes, team. that is ME! I love to ride Shamu, especially when my friends and family come into town. The next shots show Tillie's reaction when she learned her mother's secret life as a "marine biologist" that gets to ride around in a Shamu-esque wetsuit all day.

She had no idea. How could she? She's just a baby. Duh.

the initial shock.

the terror! "Is the whale going to swallow my mom? or will she conquer him by climbing a top his beak thing?"

(i know whales don't have beaks,

but it kind of looks like they do. do you call it their nose? their mouth? it's combined!).

and finally, the relief! "Yes! she CAN do it all! and I CAN too!" she exclaims. what an inspiration.

(no killer whales were harmed in this fictional story.)

more photos of the darling child. all captured by lizzy.

this was at the beginning of an afternoon. Don't we look fresh and ready to rock? and let's talk about sweet Tillie's excitement shining through.

"Another kodak moment? I'll humor you people." That's what she said. Seriously.

This is after discovering the fact that her mom had a secret life. That's a lot for a little baby to handle.

She's a trooper. And, Aaron loves having his shirt off. :) All brawn, and all mine.

Pretty cute stuff. Let's move onto the next subject of darling babies. Yes, Matilda, of course, is included in that list. But here's another little darling, Easton. You can meet him more on his family's blog. He is two months younger than Tillie, but they are looking more similar in size by the minute! We had to lay them down to compare! Sorry about the flash, little ones. Luckily, they won't remember the damage done by my camera!

and last, but certainly not least, meet my husband, the exterminator. Yes, this is how I found him as he went to be a real manly man to kill the hornets that had been making a home near our garbage cans on the side of the house.

Little known fact? Yes, he is allergic to hornets. They make him puff up real big... he compared himself to "Violet!! you're turning violet!" on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. (you know, the one who eats the candy that tastes like a full meal and starts turning purple/blue and starts filling up with berry juice, and has to be rolled to the juicer? Yeah, that's the one.)

Well, Aaron compares that gal with him being stung. Wow. No wonder he wasn't in his swimming trunks with no shirt for this event, eh? Get a load of my little superman.

the end. for now.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

All of my favorite things in one picture! Matilda, Melissa, and the "Journey to Atlantis" ride. Ok, ok, not the JTA, but melissa and matlida are my favorite things in this whole world.

I can't ever describe how great it is to have melissa in my life. I spend too much time at school, too much time in the yard, or maybe too much time reading, but melis is always in love with me no matter what.

That's the great thing about being married to her, she's always unconditionally in love with me. And that's why she makes me the luckiest husband in the world.

I love that i can talk to her about anything. I love that i get to be with her always and forever. I love that being around her makes the whole world a better place. From day 1 that's been what attracted me to melissa. Everyone is happy around her, she doesn't even try, but whenvever you hang around with melissa she'll put a smile on your face and a warm fuzzy in your heart.

Fact is, the whole reason the two of us got together was melissa's glow that she emits. We were both at a mutual friend (thank you spencer/natalie johnson (monson))'s "white trash" theme party. I don't really like "parties" or "themes", so i was hanging off to the corner and there was melis, helping good ol' glenn stucki with some math homework. And I thought to myself, now there's a good lookin' girl that is helping someone out and she's glowing. So I talked to her and next thing I know it's 2008 and we have a baby! -ps, she's the one that asked me out on the first date.

Anyway, I love ya hun. I still can't believe you chose me and I get to be with you. I love that I get to come home to you. I love that you make our house my favorite place to be. I love that your mine, and i'm yours, and matilda's ours. And i love that you are willing to try out so many new foods and go to china with me and you let me watch the jazz games even when i probably shouldn't.

ok, anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

at long horn cafe ( you can see the delicious cupcakes melissa made in this one)


I told matilda it was mom's birthday tomorrow and this was her reaction



we were going to longhorn cafe with chocolate cake and muffins and we invited some peeps to join in on the party. it was a good one!