Introducing baby Hank

It is official, we are a family of 4!

 I haven't updated the blog in a some time since we've been adjusting to our new normal. Our newest addition is baby Hank and what a sweet baby he is! I can't enough of those cheeks!

We are in love.

Hank was born May 31 at 1:08 am. He weighed 7 lbs 14 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. I made it 39 weeks and one day. This was the last pregnancy picture I took. I didn't even have time to post it because we went to the hospital that same day with contractions.

Let's play!

The show, Who Wants to be a Millionaire held auditions in Utah over the summer. My sister said we should go and of course, I said yes! However, on the morning of auditions, my sister got called into work last minute. I was already up and ready to go, so I headed out the door by myself. Little did I know that my decision would lead to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Auditions were held at Valley Fair Mall. Potential contestants lined as early as 6 am. I got a spot in line and waited. Finally, we were ushered inside. I had no idea what to expect. I didn't know what the audition process entailed and took a seat at a table with other hopefuls. Producers from the show made everyone feel at ease then got down to business. We were assigned a number and got ready to take a timed test. Those who passed would move on to the next round. I did my best and finished the test. Afterwards, producers called out numbers. ME! I was moving on to the next round!

The next round of auditions consisted of interviews with producers. At the end of the process, a producer told me I would be contacted if selected or be put in a contestant pool. I went home feeling good about the day.

A few weeks later, I was filling in at KSL-TV. I get a call from a producer and she tells me I am to be a contestant on the show! My tape date is in two weeks! There's no question about it, I have to go! A couple weeks later, my husband, my sister, my one year old boy and myself are on a plane flying across the country to Connecticut.

Taping Millionaire was a fun experience! I met contestants from all around the country. I have been on set before but never on a nationally televised production! Producers and the crew acted like our personal cheerleaders, they were so supportive and encouraging! When it was my turn to play, I was taken to the set of Millionaire. It was so surreal! The new host, Terry Crews, is larger than life! He is a really nice guy and made me feel comfortable instantly. I loved being a contestant on a game show! I'm so happy with my experience and will never forget it. 

He's here!

So our little man made his debut early! 5 weeks early! It's been a whirlwind the past month. Our little guy spent 9 days in NICU after his birth. His billirubin levels were high and he spent a few days under intense phototherapy and two days in the billi-bed. He had to gain weight and work on feeding. We were so happy the day we got to bring him home! I'll post the birth story later. Time is flying by! He changes everyday and we're loving this new parent thing. So without further ado, I introduce to you

Harvey

Summer and baseball

Summer is delightful... lazy days, sunshine, and baseball. I'm a Honeybee and lucky enough to get to spend my summer at Spring Mobile Ballpark. What's a Honeybee, you ask? Click here! I love being at the ballpark; the sounds and smells create an atmosphere that's almost magical.  Brent loves baseball, too. He'll come watch the games when I'm working and when I'm not working, we're usually at the games. I am so blessed to have this opportunity. I work with amazing girls and it's so fun! The season isn't over yet... so come out and enjoy America's pastime.

"Baseball is such a game of hope. Anything can happen--and often does--usually in the most tension-filled times. Maybe your team is up by a run or two with only three outs to get. Why does it seem that those three outs are always the toughest three to get? Or maybe you are on the other side of the ledger with your team being down a run or two with three outs to go. Doesn't hope spring eternal if you get a base runner or two on?"   -Peter G. Doumit, What I Know about Baseball is What I Know about Life

11.11.11

I’ve been hearing from everyone that 11/11/11 is a once-in-a-lifetime event. It’s a big day for numerologists, mathematicians, weirdos, etc. The LA Times called 11/11/11 a "once-in-a century palindrome day". In honor of this rare and momentous occasion, we decided to document our day and capture the exact moment of 11:11 pm on 11/11/11.

We ate at Betos... Mmmm veggie burrito!



Went to redbox and watched "Arthur"





Made gingersnaps



And here is what we were doing at 11:11 pm...



Awesome, isn't it?

There's nothing better than spending time together even if it's doing simple things. We always have fun :)

Dirty Dash '11

Time to get down and dirty! My girlfriends and I did the Dirty Dash at Soldier Hollow and it was tough… but so fun! The course is covered in mud, obstacles and fierce water hoses. The race began with a mud pit, and then we were up against giant hay bales we had to climb over and muddy tunnels we had to crawl through. We scaled walls as giant fans blew water every which way! Near the end, we slid down a ginormous slip n’ slide! (yay!) And for the big finale... we waded through the pig sty in waist-deep mud to get to the finish line.
It was the hardest race I’ve ever done but I’d do it again! We had a muddy fun time!

Before...


After!


Team Tie-Dye

Twenty-6

My birthday weekend was so fun! I am surrounded with wonderful family and friends and an amazing husband.

My birthday weekend began with my work throwing a little office party. They ordered yummy cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes. Of course, we had to sample all the different flavors (white chocolate raspberry is divine!) They even ordered my very own chocolate cake to take home!




Brent cooked me a fabulous birthday dinner and then we went out for dessert at The Melting Pot. We ordered the flaming turtle and wow, it was good!






My family came over the next day for cake, ice cream... and presents!

"The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age." ~ Lucille Ball

Sundance Film Festival 2011

Each year the stars of independent film gather in Park City, Utah for the Sundance Film Festival.

And Heather and I love to star-gaze.

It's was our second year of Sundance and we had so much fun! We went to the premiere of "Pariah" on opening night. We didn't know what the movie was about, but it turned out to be good. The Q & A session after the film is really interesting. The entire cast and the director answered questions from the audience.

Standing in line for the film on opening night

We took in a second day of Sundance and saw a documentary. Again, not really knowing what it was about. We saw "We Were Here", if you are familiar with the films this year, you can see we had a theme going. It was just OK.

My favorite part of the festival is walking Main Street. It's fun to people watch and try to see someone "famous". We ate a quaint deli for lunch and as we are getting ready to order, in walks Arielle Kebbel. (John Tucker Must Die) She was there promoting the film "I Melt With You".



She was the only celeb we saw that day.
We were told Rob Lowe (who is also in that same film) was eating lunch down the street. We saw paparazzi outside and attempted to sneak a peak... but failed.

Sundance Film Festival

Heather and I spend an awesome Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival!
We went to a screening of "Twelve" starring Chace Crawford and Emma Roberts. It's based on the book by Nick McDonell. It was a gritty film but I really liked it though. After the movie was over, the director Joel Schumacher, Chace Crawford and Charlie Saxton (who is also in the film) came out for a Q & A session. It was sooo cool!
We did lunch at the Red Banjo Pizza Parlor. It was good food but bad service:( We stopped by a Banksy' original... painted on the side of the Java Cow.
All in all, it was a fantastic day with my sister.

Crawford, Saxton, Schumacher





Banksy was here.

BYU vs. Utah, Cougs win it in OT baby!

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

"I promise that this will be the last time you’ll see me. I won’t come back. I won’t put you through anything like this again. You can go on with your life without any more interference from me. It will be as if I’d never existed."
--Edward Cullen, New Moon



My mom, Ally and I saw New Moon opening weekend and it was SO good! I loved every minute of it. I've read all the books and although New Moon wasn't my favorite book, the movie lived up to all the hype. I found myself rooting for Jacob in this installment. (Edward had my vote in the first movie). I'm dying to see it again! Anyone want to go with me? ;)

Visiting Susan

Our cruise was beyond awesome! But one of my favorite parts of our vacation was seeing my pregnant sis, Susan. I hadn't seen her in months! She and her husband moved up to Washington so this was the first time I had seen her in awhile. Though our stay was short, we had so much fun!
Here's the quick version...
Susan has a dog, named Sam... and he's big! Actually really big compared to our little terrier. He's a bit rambunctious so we made Brent play with him outside.
While Brent was playing with Sam, us girls thought we'd be "domestic" and bake a cake. Only she didn't have a cake mix, or frosting, or powdered sugar. So we made due with what we had and made a cake from scratch. The cake actually turned out not too bad. The frosting on the other hand tasted like butter with food coloring. But at least we made the finished project look good, right?
One night we went to watch the Seattle Mariners play at Safeco field! It was a great night and the Mariners won. I absolutely love baseball games.
The night before we left, I was lucky enough to get to go to Susan's baby shower! She got a ton of cute things and I was glad I got to be there for her.

Brent with Sam on the rock

Vancouver, BC - the Olympic city

After our cruise, we decided we just had to make a trip to Vancouver, BC. The city will host the Olympics in February so we really wanted to see the sights. We rented a car, drove from Seattle and across the border to our northern neighbor. Our hotel was right in the heart of the city. We walked downtown, made a trip down Robson Street (a famous shopping street), saw BC Place, GM Place (where the Vancouver Canucks play) and walked a ways down to Gastown, the historic part of Vancouver. The next day we were feeling adventurous, so we rented roller blades and spent the afternoon blading around the seawall in Stanley Park. I thought I was this awesome blader but apparently that was when I was 14. It took some getting used to, but by the end, we were total pros!

Just after we crossed the border

Robson Street
>
BC Place


GM Place - home to the Vancouver Canucks

The famous steam clock in Gastown

Gaining some speed...


Slowing down as I round the corner

And he's off...

Made it all the way around the seawall injury free!