Dogs aren't man's best friend, I am!

I must be, because when one of my best girlfriends in the whole wide world asks me to do one of these 'chain letter-type' posts, I (reluctantly so) fulfill my obligation as one good friend does. Well, sort of. I'm not sure I'm going to 'tag' anyone myself, as I am tired, and may not want to chase anyone. At any rate, 'tag' is not just for elementary kids, apparently, so read on...

RULES:
1. List the link to your tagger and also post the 'rules'.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog - some random, some weird, etc.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your blog also leaving the links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are "tagged" by leaving a comment on their blog.
5. Rules were made to be broken (I'm a bad seed).

Facts About Steph:
1. I was born and raised in Salt Lake County, UT and have never lived anywhere else. I am OK with that. I have never felt like I was missing out by not leaving UT for an extended period of time, regardless of what others think. I figure, I have a good thing going, why mess with that. Besides, we love to travel, and we have good reason to do it often.

2. I have never had my hair colored or dyed, and my first professional haircut was done when I was 20 years-old (Mom cut it until then). The thing is, with the coloring, I figure this is what God gave me, and he does nice work. We'll see as I get older, though, with the grey. (If it's a pretty grey, that's one thing. Grandma Barb has pretty grey hair. But then there's the ugly grey; if I get that, I may change my mind.)

3. I have worked at the following places (in order):

• Macey's
• Classic Skating
• ZCMI Corp Office
• University of Phoenix (instructed Seinfeld philosophy, no not really, managed office at night)
• Sears (data entry)
• Home (Wife & Mom - my favorite)
• Macey's (again)
• Access Development
• Home (again, yea! Wife & Mom - still my favorite)

4. I was a dancer for 15 years of my life (3-18) and spent my high school years on the dance company. Loved it. Quit dancing when I graduated h.s. (except for in my kitchen & family room - by myself & with my hubby & kids). And I am OK with that too.

5. I am sure that my associations in the pre-earth life included that of Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards. I just think we get each other. Well, I know I get them, and I'm sure if they could recall the friendship, they'd agree they get me too.

6. No matter my age, I still feel 18. My dad says that's normal, and he does too.

7. My passions:

• My husband & children - I'd do anything in my power to ensure our family's success & happiness.
• My faith - I'd do anything necessary to defend my religion.
• Exceeding expectations in whatever I do. (I like to be liked, and I like what I do to be liked. I'm sure this is consistent with my personality traits as described by Dr. Hartman. In high school I was Red/Yellow, evenly split - NO blue or white. After years of marriage & children I am Red/Blue, pretty evenly split, little yellow, still NO white.)

For now, that's it. I am going to snuggle up to my best friend and catch up on tonight's episodes of 'The Office' and '30 Rock', and eat some pie. Maybe later I'll tag a few of my closest;) Love ya'll.

...Alright it's a new day, and tag, you're it:

Aaron & Teresa, Mandy, Jenny, and Mandi!

Halloween Catch-Up

Yes, we realize Halloween news is 'so last month', but when you're pregnant everything moves a little slower (except your need to urinate, that speeds up). Anywho, here's what we did for fun:

Pumpkin Patching: After seeing Grandpa Vardell's meticulously carved pumpkin, which you can see on Jenny's blog (I'm told he did it under duress, and I'm sure he'd be embarrassed to admit this is what he was doing at a Scouts activity instead of hunting God's creatures.) the kids were ready to find their own perfect pumpkins to carve.

Off we were to an overwhelming pumpkin patch, most likely the same one Kristen and Shayn took Alpine to. And we thought we were off to a pretty good start when early on we found what Brian and I, and Taylor for that matter, considered Tay's perfect pumpkin. Later on down the row, though, Whitney convinced Taylor that there were others even better-looking, and Tay's pumpkin was traded a few times... Whitney was sure she had to see every pumpkin in the patch to know she was getting just the right one. (If this is indicative of her future, we may be in trouble...) She was very insistent on certain characteristics her pumpkin should have. We finally coached (not persuaded) her into finding one that worked. Unbeknownst to us, Taylor also grabbed two mini pumpkins on the way to the pay counter. It was so cute, and since they were like 70 cents each, we let him take them as well. So off we were with our four perfect pumpkins.

Then the Carving: We allowed creative license to the kids, although Tay's should have been first, because by the time Bri got to his, he was happy that it had eyes, nose, and mouth - didn't much care the size and shape. Whitney on the other hand (if you can imagine) was very adamant about exactly what her's would look like. She drew lines on the pumpkin where Brian was suppose to cut, and stood by, supervising the effort, and correcting any mistakes. He must have done a satisfactory job, because everyone smiled for the picture:

School Parade: It's just a little nostalgic to return to my old elementary to watch our little princess fairy parade around with her classmates. I guess more than anything, though, it makes me feel a little older than I should, and everything seems a little smaller than it was back when... Whitney was so cute in her costume, and this was no secret to our sassy first grader. Tay had mixed feelings about going to the school to watch his big sister, and at last minute decided he would put his costume on for Whitney to see! (In his defense, we did have to wake him up in order to go, and that's almost never a good thing.)

Treats and Tricks: As you can see, we had an adorable fairy and a huggable little Elmo, and all we were lacking was more candy! So, Brian took them around the neighborhood while I answered our door for other treaters, maybe four times. We also visited grandparents and a couple other lucky people so Whit and Tay could flash their charm for sugar. (I think this is the first time I have likened this tradition to exploitation of one sort or another.) Anywho, Taylor was so cute as he said all on his own, "Trick-or-treat", and Whitney informed us after sorting her candy that "Occasionally you can ask for a treat from my bag, and you can grab whatever you want out of Taylor's."!!

Build-a-Bed

Now that I am a seasoned blogger, let me fill you in on where Brian's been since mid-October: in the garage. He's a workhorse, I tell ya'. Day and night he's been slaving over the L-shaped bunk bed he's building for Whitney and Tay, since they'll share a room, so Baby gets its own.

We knew it would be a huge undertaking, especially since before we began we realized it wasn't going to save us any money over buying a similar one. But this way, Brian gets a project (which he enjoys), and we get the exact bed we had in mind. Here's what the bed will look like, in general:

(except, ours will be cooler). Last night we fully assembled the top bed rail. (I can't believe I am actually saying "we", because Bri does all the work and calls me out there to hold a piece for him!) It looks so cool to see these pieces all come together because of his handy work! I'm certain it will be beautiful when complete - so good job Babe! Unless I can figure out how to get the pictures from our camera onto the computer, you may not see any pictures of the work in progress... We'll see. The bed should be done by Christmas, because we've already told Whitney and Taylor that's what they're getting.

Utah's Referendum 1

Since Brian has done every other post you've seen, I, Steph, am attempting my first blog entry EVER! (Which may illustrate how passionate I get about politics. I can probably be friends with a democrat any other time of the year, but when it's time to vote I admit, I get even more opinionated.) Since this is my first post, I wanted it to look nice with a picture, but I couldn't find one in a hurry. That may be a good thing, because I probably would've had a difficult time figuring out how to post it among all the words.

Onto to it! There's much buzz about Referendum 1, as to be expected with an issue that affects so many and takes to heart the education system of the state.

The thing I'm struggling with is the reason(s) people are giving in favor of the bill. While I readily admit that a lot of the advertisements on t.v. and some editorials 'against' were very poorly written, and make those responsible look uneducated, they are on the right track with their vote (they just may not be able to clearly tell you why), so I am going to tell you why we are voting 'AGAINST':

• Most Utah families, regardless of this bill, CANNOT afford private school. We feel we represent the majority of Utah families - middle or upper middle class - which makes us qualified to make that statement. The private school we would send our kids to if we could afford it costs almost $4000 per year per student. Do you know how much money we would get from the voucher system? Maybe $1000 per student. Are you kidding me? Maybe we could afford it if we chose our favorite child, and that one got to go. Nope, not even then.
• We already have choices of where to take our kids to school. I really cringe every time I hear this argument in favor of the vouchers. We personally choose to take our first grader to another school within our district but outside our ordinary boundaries and appreciate that choice. You can take your kids to private school, should you be able to afford it, you can take your kids to charter schools (publicly funded - tax dollars follow your student), and you can take your kids to a different public school thanks to 'open enrollment'. The real choice parents need to make regarding their children's education is to BE INVOLVED.
• We do not believe that tax dollars will be well spent trying to give the lowest income families an opportunity to attend private schools, where the most wealthy already enroll their kids, and leave the middle class where they've always been. This new bill doesn't benefit many people. Better use would be to put the money toward new infrastructure (not to say 'forget education', but the west side of Salt Lake valley is hurting). Or give it to me and I'll diversify in safe and high yielding investments. Best use would be to put it toward public education, where EVERYONE benefits, regardless of income.
• You wanna talk $$$? Check this out - during the voucher program's first year, tax dollars spent will be approximately 5.5 million - not a whole lot compared to the current public education budget. BUT over the course of the next 13 years, $429 million! That's a lot of millions. I'd like to see what difference that could make in our public schools! Definitely sounds like a means to smaller class sizes, better pay for teachers, more resources for students. And don't tell me that the 'remainder of funds' (tax dollars left in the public school system when a student uses voucher for private school, ya' know, the Oreos) is going to increase public school funding either, because a) it's a projected amount of anywhere between 2.4 million and 11.5 million for the first year - again, not a whole lot compared to the current public education budget, and b) guess what happens after that student has been gone from the public school for five years. Bye-bye 'remainder of funds' - the school's budget is redrawn to reflect current enrollment. Interesting.
• How about class size? No matter how many take advantage of the vouchers, it won't make a dent in our public school classroom size. Due to limited funding, less than 1% of eligible students could receive a voucher in 2008. Not to mention the fact that not all private schools will accept and/ or be eligible for vouchers - another limitation that affects how many eligible students will actually take advantage.

Bottom line, at least DO YOUR HOMEWORK before heading to the polls. If you don't feel very well informed of this (or any) issue, you shouldn't vote on it. And don't be emotional, be logical.

KSL's editorial echos our opinions quite well. For those who think they support vouchers based on their October 17 'truth in advertising' report, they were attempting to objectively illustrate truths and falsehoods in advertisements airing 'for' and 'against' the voucher bill. For some it was misconstrued as KSL being in favor of vouchers. This other article clears the air.

For other good reading, I recommend the Voter Info Pamphlet (should have received it in the mail).

Other sites used for gathering info: PCE, Utah Charter Schools.

Happy voting - November 6th.

PS. There's lots of other stuff going on, and it all deserves to be blogged, so we'll catch up very soon - with PICTURES!

It's a ... BABY!

Today was a very exciting day for us. It was the day that we got to have an ultrasound of our little baby to be. We think the child is adorable and just the cutest thing we've seen. It must take after it's mother.


This is a profile view of our baby. Our little fetus is developing perfectly and looks very healthy. It's development is right on track for where we thought it should be so our Mid-March due date is a go (though I'm still hoping for a Leap Baby). No, we are not finding out the gender of the baby right now. We've already got one of each so it really doesn't matter what comes next.

Steph continues to struggle with the sickness. Everything was great in California. No morning/afternoon/night sickness at all. (It must have been that great sea air everyone is always talking about.) The day we got home it started back up again. We've tried most home remedies and even some good drugs but nothing seems to work like just keeping some food in the tummy at all times.

We are very excited to welcome this new baby into our family because we need a baby again. Taylor is way too big now (all 26 lbs of him). Today he was going down the slide at Whitney's school and just before his 3rd trip down he declared "Daddy, no catch me, just watch!". Of course he fell on his face when he hit the bottom but after that he was a pro, impressing the 5 and 6 year olds that were looking on.

California Dreamin'

Well we just returned from a great week in California. Here are a bunch of pictures starting out with the reason for the whole trip. Congrats to Julie and David on their marriage. Here they are with the rabbi at breathtaking Pebble Beach. It was a gorgeous day and a beautiful ceremony. They're living it up in Italy right now.

Taylor inspected the fairways to make sure that all was well.

Oh, and it was a great sunset that evening.

The place we stayed at in Pacific Grove was across the street from the water of Monterey Bay. We loved it.

Every day seals would sun themselves on the rocks in the water. I named this one Zippy.

Then we drove down the coast to San Diego. The weather was absolute perfection. We spent a lot of time playing on the beach. Here are the sand castles the kids and I made.

Whitney had a blast playing in the waves.

Taylor was just a little scared of the water (with each wave he would say "Water coming, water coming.") so he just played with the sand.

Aren't these just the cutest heads you've ever seen?

We spent one afternoon at a nearby amusement park called Bellmont. There were about a dozen rides that we went on about a dozen times.

Oh and there were some more sunsets. Here is one night from our rooftop deck. There were table and chairs up there. It was a great spot to watch the sun sink from the sky.

We ate well too. We had some great mexican food in Old Town and we found another Tin Fish (like the one in MN). The one in Chicago wasn't the same but this one definitely was. Steph loved her halibut taco. The cheeseburger wasn't quite the same but was some good eats all the same.

31 Doesn't FEEL Old ...

It just sounds old.

Well, Monday was the big day for me. It was a good day, even if I did have to go into the office. Steph and I went to a very fancy pants restaurant called Metropolitan. The food was very yummy and the portions very small. Steph gave me a game we played this summer called Blokus and a great DVD of Jim Gaffigan. He's a funny guy ...

Get a Haircut!

Here's some pix from Tay's bath tonite. Steph is threatening to get his hair cut so we thought we should show it off while we can. Enjoy!

Labor Day Fun

We enjoyed a fun filled Labor Day holiday on Monday. Since I didn't have to work I got to spend the whole day home with Steph and the kids. Unlike most days when I spend the whole day at home with Steph and the kids telecommuting.

We met up with our good friends Jason & Melinda for dinner at Gecko's. We caught up with each other and admired how cute little Sara is. Whit and Tay ran amok around the restaurant with their daughter Laura.

We then took the kids to Mulligan's for some mini-golf. I think their grandpa would be proud of their great form. They should give the option to just play the front 9 cuz Tay lost interest around the 4th hole. He survived the activity but was out as soon as we got in the car. He did manage to find some energy when we got to Coldstone.

Firsts

Well this is a big week of firsts for our family.

On Tuesday Whitney had her FIRST day of FIRST grade. She has been so excited to go back to school but nervous about being there "all day". On Monday we met with her teacher for a few minutes. She is very nice. Tuesday Whit went to the wrong door for the first time. On Wednesday she had her first sick day. She's feeling better today. Here she is in front of the wrong doors into class.


This weekend is also our FIRST wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe a year has already gone by. Time flies when you're having fun. In honor of the event I'm posting our wedding video which didn't get finished in time to show at the reception. Thanks to Jeff who shot the video at the luncheon and temple. You can see his latest work here. This video is kind of long so it may take a minute to load. Enjoy!