Crazy Baby Thursday Picture

Oh my, do you think that she enjoys eating?

She loves anything orange; carrots, sweet potatoes, squash.

I love bibs and spray & wash.

(35 Weeks)
Such a happy girlie, just cheesin' it up.

Out on the Town

Saturday afternoon we got an invite to join Dave, McKenzie and friends at Trafalga.

Pretty much, we think Dave needed someone to talk to but we were thrilled with the idea so we packed up and headed to meet them.

Mya's first reaction as we walked in the door, to the not so quiet arcade, was to put on her worried face and start to cry. But, after a few minutes she decided that the place wasn't as bad as she thought.

This is where we found everyone, huddled around one of those "jack-pot" games watching the tickets pour out. Apparently, Dave has mastered this type of game and the girls were collecting his 1000 ticket jackpot. I think my max ticket payout ever has been like 50.
The official ticket winnings for the afternoon came in at 3000+!
So the next 20 minutes or so were spent by the girls deciding just which prizes they wanted to take home with them.
Showing off their prizes.
The girls were sweet enough to sacrifice some of their tickets to get Mya a cookie monster.
Thanks girls!

While we were waiting for prizes to be picked, Cody and I decided to play some games ourselves.

Gettin' my Ski-Ball on.

2 points from beating the high score.

Score: Cody 37 - Aubry 40

Lucky me!

Mya and Grandpa Dave

We ended the afternoon with a rousing game of glow-in the dark mini golf.

So fun! I haven't ever done that. It was interesting to see how many times I had bleached spots off my coat.

Good times had by one and all! Thanks to Kenzie and Dave for inviting us, we had a great time!

PS : If any of you know how to take pictures in black light please let me know how it's done because I was trying yesterday and it was driving me crazy that I couldn't figure it out!

I am Officially an Auntie!!

Wahoo, now I get to be the Auntie that spoils her nephew!

I hope I can live up to Auntie Kim, she is the sweetest to Mya. She is Amazing!

Tate Willem Makechnie

2/17/09

Isn't he the absolute cutest! So handsome already!

I love the extra chubs, all 8lbs 15 oz of it!

(Kimmy, you are a wonder woman!)

We love you so much Kim, Glenn and sweet baby Tate!

Thanks for helping us obtain our Aunt, Uncle and Cousin titles, it's so much fun!

We can't wait to see you next month.

Smother him with kisses from his Auntie Aubry!
Love you!

The days of our lives...

Another week has gone by and it seems that apart from the occasional trips to Target, there hasn't been too much exciting to report. I have devoured more than my fair share of valentines sugar cookies and have now resolved to work out more to make up for my gluttony.

So here are a few exciting highlights from our week thus far...

Mya is now 8 Months Old!

It is amazing that she has almost been outside of me as long as she was inside of me. I am so thankful that she wasn't this big when she was in there.
What's new for Mya at 8 months, let's see;
~2 new teeth
~some impressive new babbles, "ma-ma-ma", "da-da-da"
She has no idea what they mean but they are adorable
~She has discovered that she can scream, and these random ear piercing cries are making leery of what she will be like as a 2 year old.
~I think her hair color has finally tainted her temper.
~She loves a good game of peek-a-boo, those giggles are the best!
~ Not a crawler yet but will roll to get wherever she wants.
~ She can entertain herself, when she wants to, with her toys. She also loves looking at her books.

I am so thankful for her smiles and I love every minute that I get to spend with my sweet little girl!

In other ExCiTinG News... a little baby boy came out of the above belly! (I know you can hardly tell it's even there! Not fair.)

We are so excited to have a nephew!

I'll let Kimmy post all the stats and I'll record it for myself later; I don't want to ruin the name surprise.
Congrats to Kim and Glenn! We are so excited for you and CAN'T Wait to see pictures!

And now for a wedding update...

At the request of this cute couple I have posted a different picture of them.

They felt that the s'more picture just didn't do them justice.

Less than a month to go and these two will be stuck with each other.

So, that means Bridal shower time!

I have been putting my Stampin' Up product to use over the last couple days making shower invites and I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out.

Thanks Mom and Patty for all your help designing them and all your additional contributions!

Sweethearts Dance

Last night was my little brother McKay's first date. It also just happened to be his school's Sweetheart's dance. He was pretty excited. He went with a girl in my ward named Shikeya. She is the most amazing girl, the exact type of girl anyone would pick to date their little brother! And lets admit it, she's Gorgeous! Thanks, you two, for stopping by last night. I hope you had a great time!

Sugar cookies, Conversation Hearts, Kisses and more!

Happy Valentines Day!

Cody, Mya and I have had a grand day celebrating LOVE.

We started out with a trip to Kneaders Bakery to partake of their delightful french toast. These things are delish!
We ventured out in the snow to visit Grams and Grandpa.

The rest of the day we have just hung out and been fantastically lazy.
How great is that?
Watching movies, snuggling and having a nap. Life is great.

We Love you all and hope you have a 'lovely' Valentines.

Something ain't right here!

2 razor sharp incisors ripping their way through your fleshy gums.

That can't feel good.

Sorry my little Mya, I'll keep snuggling you and dosing the Tylenol as long as it takes.

Birthday Delights

Sunday we celebrated McKay's big 16th birthday! I can't believe he is that old!

We enjoyed a fantastic dinner of his choice which included Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, veggies, rolls, and for dessert banana cake with cream cheese frosting (mmmmm, pause to swallow saliva). It was all so delish!

Then it was present time and he made quite the haul. He got some good lookin' new t-shirts, some jeans, new shoes and some shades. Shades are a must now that he will be piloting the red truck!




Life is good!


For a huge surprise, Mom and Dad recruited me to help with a 'While you were out' style make over of McKay's room. It was so fun! Intense, since we only had while he was in school to get it done, but so much fun!
*Before*

Notice the clutter, light house border and lack of floor space.

Dad getting ready to rip down the border and mom sorting through old school papers, elementary school papers.


*After*

New Snowboarding border is in place, new bookshelf assembled, room organized, dusted and now notice the additional floor space!

This was my Dad's project for the day. For a long time McKay has wanted to have a wall that he can draw all over. He never thought that mom would actually go for it, so this wall and buckets of sharpies were a HuGE shock to him.

My proud accomplishment; gutting and organizing his closet. I was quite proud.

Dad and I with the finished project.

It was a good time had by one and all.

Happy Birthday McKay!

Happy 16th Birthday Uncle McKay!

16 Wonderful reasons we love MK...

1~ You can always make us laugh; impressions, quotes, and your quick whit.

2~ You have a strong sense of self.

3~ You aren't afraid to make a bold statement (ex. the baby blue sport coat ).

4~ You are the greatest uncle, always willing to help and love Mya.

5~ You have a soft side, one that is in tune with the spirit and very loving.
6~ You aren't embarrassed to hug your sister in front of your friends.

7~ You make friends easily.

8~ You have the type of personality that draws people to you, others want to be with you.

9~ You are a strong athlete.

10~ You are a talented artist... I can't wait to see what you draw on your wall.

11~ You are willing to try new adventures. ( Not so much when you were younger, remember waiting in lines in Disneyland?)

12~ You honor your priesthood and are worthy to hold it.

13~ You love us, even when we annoy you or tease you.

14~ You are accepting of others and don't judge them.

15~ You are a loyal friend, teammate and family member.

16~ You are just amazing, handsome, wonderful and talented all the way around!

We love you so much and hope that you have a great birthday!

Girls day and the results thereof.

Tuesday, Mya and I ventured north with Grams to have a girls day.

Our first stop was to purchase vinyl, oh the oodles of colors there were to choose from. We went a little nuts, sorry dad and Cody.

We then enjoyed lunch at Zuppa's, which was utterly delightful.

Our next stop the European wonder that is ....

We wandered, ooohing and aaahing at the furniture, accessories and the organization supplies.

And the prices, it just feels like you are always getting a bargain.
Mya and I were playing around in the children's section and since I can't resist putting things on my child's head....

**The Haul**

So many cute things: Shelves for Mya's room, a vase and peony's, frames, office organization stuff and a 99 cent mouse pad because boy did we need one.

~* Now you all might want to sit down because the cuteness that is to follow is beyond words.

All I have to say is thank you to the Vinyl store, my mom and her Cricut!

Before

After!

Little Miss Mya ( 33 weeks), supervising the additions in her room.

I think she's thrilled about the changes.

I love them, I think they are so HAPPY.

Do I need more, let me know what you think.

I have a bunch of smaller ones made so I could add more.

Nous Aimons Manger Attieke!!

While Cody was on his mission in the Ivory Coast he learned how to cook some of their traditional meals. Some I am not so fond of, like the peanut butter gravy~like substance that you eat with beef. Not my favorite. However, the fried plantains or black eyed peas dishes are always welcome. But I think that Attieke is my absolute favorite. Cody and I tend to crave it.
Attieke (a-chi-kay), is similar in appearance and texture to couscous but is made from cassava root and not flour. Cassava is a root that looks a lot like a sweet potato. To arrive at a point where it actually becomes attieke the root goes through an extensive preparation process that involves being ground, dried and soaked in water multiple times.

Once that process is complete and the attieke is cooked, it looks something like this.
And I must say it is delightful!

Here's Cody doing what he informed me was the 'woman's work', breaking up the attieke to cook. I offered to do it but he doesn't trust me to prepare it yet.

Then you steam it.

Once it is steamed then you season it with chicken bullion, add tomatoes, onions and your choice of fish and enjoy!

Oh, and the best part, no silverware. Yes, you eat it with your hands. You grab a handful of everything squish it together and pop it in your mouth.

Squishing....

and eating our delightful dinner.

I think Cody also had it for breakfast the next morning.