Christmas, Anniversary, Basketball and More

We just got back from Northern California, where we got to spend time with both of our families. I feel like we should start from the beginning, though. Scott and I were both excited for Christmas break. The anticipation was killing me and it seemed like the couple of weeks leading up to it took FOREVER! Our travel day was LONG. Ada did not nap (well once and that was not until the last leg of the flight) and that means we had to entertain her. She actually did really well with just a few minor meltdowns.

Looking at this picture, one would think that we were using Ada as a luggage carrier. Let me assure you dear readers, that she was screaming at us before we put the bag on her. Ultimate fit. So it actually turned out nice for all of us. One less bag to carry through the busy airport.
Our second night in OV (Orangevale), we all went out to dinner.

Uncle Chad with Ada and Luke. Chad is the favorite Uncle. Ada and Luke both have a love for Yo Gabba Gabba. If you don't know what Yo Gabba Gabba is, well my friends, check it out here.
Ada is obsessed with the show and can even kind of say it. If she sees anyone sitting at the computer she throws her arms up in the air and while running to the computer garbles (if that is even a word), "Gobbaglobba, gobbaglobba." Luke not only loves Yo Gabba, but loves Oreo's too. We didn't want Ada to watch a ton of the show (one big reason for me is because the songs get stuck in my head for hours) and after we would tell her, "No more," she would cry and Uncle Chad would say, "Awww, Ada, do you need to watch some Yo Gabba?" Her tears would stop instantaneously and she would run into Chad's arms.

Kings and Warriors were playing at the Arco Arena. Scott grew up Warriors fan, and myself, Kings (well, I rooted for them anyway). It was looking really good for the Kings until the last 2 minutes. We thought the game was in the bag...NOPE. Warriors won in OT and Scott and my SIL Amy were both pretty happy about the win. Boo

Oh yeah, Scott had shaved for a lunch meeting, but now has his beard back.


Nothing like a side shot

I am not sure if these Kings fans are fair weather fans, but they bagged their heads as soon as Warriors won. Oh, Kings have not been doing too well this season...

Scott and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary and he planned the whole date. I was so excited about it. We spent half of the day in Old Town Sac where we went ice skating, walked around K Street Mall, had dinner and ended the night watching "White Christmas" at an old theater. So fun

The ice skating rink. Neither of us have skated for some time, but did pretty well after a few laps around the rink. Speaking of the ice rink, it was tiny. We for sure thought we were going to run over some of the little kiddos.


Scott did not have the best of luck with his skates. His first pair were too loose on the ankles and the 2nd slid all over the ice (or maybe that was his excuse). :) I kid. The second pair really were bad.

I have no sympathy for Chad. He brought this all upon himself. :) Every time Ada would see Chad, she would run to him and ask for Yo Gabba Gabba and he had too big of a heart to say, "no." What a great Uncle.


Christmas Eve we went to Dovewood Court to see the lights. It was so fun to see Ada's reaction to all of the lights. Loved it. It was so funny. There were a TON of people there and we were pretty much just shuffling through the culdesac, and one of the little boys yelled to his dad, "Look Dad, Angel Moroni."


Whoops...someone did not put make up on that day.

I have to explain the picture. My dad was trying to get Ada to laugh. He was trying to scare her so at one point, Scott attempted to give my dad the same reaction he had hoped to get from Ada. I thought it was funny.



Grandma Lovell working hard on the Christmas feast. My mom is known for the rolls that she makes. I have tried and tried to re-create them with not much success. I asked my mom if I could help and have her teach me face to face. Well, I was pretty proud of myself because the rolls that I helped with turned out perfect. Thanks Mom!

Growing up, we would wake up at 4 in the AM (well my sister and I would), turn on all of the Christmas lights, open our stockings, then wake up the rest of the fam at 5 and open presents. Every year since I can remember, my mom has bought a huge box of Sees Candies and that would be breakfast (along with the Christmas nuts and other candy from our stockings). We decided to change that this year (well the eating portion, we stopped waking up at 5 years ago). Amy, my SIL made this amazing bread that pretty much tasted like a maple bar. We also had eggs, hash browns, fruit and sausages. We wanted to stretch out Christmas as long as we could. Don't you love my Mom's awesome red nightgown? I do too!

Ada had a fun Christmas. Once she realized that we were actually letting her rip open boxes, she got a little more excited to help. It was even better when there was a toy waiting on the other side of the wrapping paper.



Awww...the newlyweds.

After John and Amy left, I asked John if being with all of the nieces and nephews (minus Steve and Lisa's. Missed you guys), if they were baby hungry. And he told me, "Quite the contrary." I guess the clock was not ticking for them with crazy, screaming kids running all over the place. All of the kids loved John and Amy. I think they are runners up to Chad with the favorite Uncle/Aunt status.

So I guess my gifts to Scott this year were more practical than fun. While out shopping, I found an awesome deal on a car vacuum. I new when I saw it that I needed to get it for him. We are always complaining that we need to clean our cars out more, but never can find a car wash/vacuum place. SO, I just couldn't pass it up. Well, fast forward to Christmas morning. Scott opened the gift then asked if there was something else in the box. Oh well, at least he will have a clean car, right? :)

One of Ada's favorite gifts. Grandma and Grandpa Foley got her a nativity. You would think that by looking at her face she was not happy with her present, BUT, the face you are actually seeing is of her being impatient. As soon as she saw what it was she started yelling, "That, that!" and wanted the toys out of the box immediately.


I had to post a picture of my dad and his famous red nightshirt. He wears it every year on Christmas morning. My mom made it for him many moons ago. I believe he used to wear just the night shirt when I was a kid, but decided to not show so much leg and wears pants underneath.

My mom has been collecting Santa's for a long time and we got her one last year with no intention of getting her another one this year. But we saw it at a boutique and thought it was so cute so we added once again, to her collection.

Pure Joy.

Chad is the easiest person to shop for. He writes out a wish list each year at Christmas so all we have to do is select something from it and get it for him. I asked him if he could only get one thing off of his list, what would it be. "Avatar, the directors cut." We scored high on that gift!

I feel so bad because when we stayed with Scott's family, I pulled my camera out to take pictures and the battery was dead. We did get an awesome Flip Camera for Christmas so I was able to get some footage at the Foley's.

We had a lot of fun playing games, visiting and hanging out with both families. The flight home was LONG, even though it went by pretty fast (is that possible?). We were just super crammed and I made the mistake of assigning us a middle and window seat when I should have chosen and aisle and middle. We were pretty much stuck in our spots for over 4 hours. Poor Ada, she was so uncomfortable.

It is nice to be in our apt again, but we miss the families. Thanks for a great time!

Name That Movie

"Heeeeeeeey Yoouuuuuuu Guuuuuyyyyyyys!!!"

Picture Time

It seems like a lot has happened in the last two weeks. While I was gone for the Ragnar,

Scott texted me that Friday to tell me that Ada wasn't eating well, then Saturday that she had a fever. Of course, I felt horrible that I could not be there to help. Sunday morning, she was burning up, so we decided to take her to the ER. We found out she had a bladder infection. Yeah, I know, horrible. She did not really eat or drink for a couple of days and the docs told me to do anything to keep fluids in her. Popsicles did the trick for a day. She liked to hold it all by herself.
Scott had most of Thanksgiving week off. We probably took off to Busch Gardens too soon after Ada's fever broke. She did not love being there. I think she was still a little weak from being so sick. Is it bad to say that I enjoyed myself? I DO think she had some fun, but was just not her usual self.

In a normal day, Ada would LOVE the Sesame Street show at Busch, but we did not get much of a reaction out of her.

Maybe we shouldn't have let her play in the water. Look at that sad face.

A little happier now

Ada was a little scared to go on
the ride with her Daddy, but she ended up liking it. Scott was the one who got a little sick. :)

Ada feeling much better (Friday after Thanksgiving). She was thoroughly enjoying her new shirt from my Black Friday purchase. Funny that I stayed out until 2AM shopping on Friday and returned almost half of what I bought. What a waste.


We have not been taking very good of her teeth lately...Good thing my brother is going to be a dentist.

Her first ponytail...or something close. I was so proud!


This was our best attempt to get a full body picture of Ada's adorable little outfit. She was having too much fun being difficult, though.
We went to the Beach for FHE. I was a little surprised that Ada was a little scared of it. We had fun taking pictures, though.

Family Picture

Yup, she loves tongues



I may be no photographer, but this sunset picture turned out pretty sweet, I think. I love being so close to the beach (even though we rarely go. I know we will be kicking ourselves when we no longer live in Florida).

Oh and for those who are interested, Ada is back to herself again. She just finished her last bit of antibiotics today. She does have to get some testing done next week just to make sure everything (her bladder and kidneys) is working correclty.

Snot Bubbles

(This is not Ada...just in case there were some who thought so)

So Ada has had a lot of snot bubbles lately. I think they are hilarious and super gross at the same time. I can't help but think of a funny, yet very awkward situation back from my Freshman year at Ricks College every time I see one(Yes, I call it Ricks cause it was Ricks when I was there). There was this guy, I think I remember his name, but am not going to write it out JUST in case his wife has somehow found my blog and reads it for entertainment :).

SO, back to the boy who must not be named. I saw him ALL over campus (that is what happens at a small school) and I always imagined getting to actually talk to him. But of course, I would never initiate such a thing. So I would try and cross paths with him often and prayed that when I did, I looked okay. Well, freshman year was quickly coming to an end and I still had not met him. With only weeks left of the semester I became friends with this awesome girl that just happened to KNOW this guy! I was so excited and told her how I thought he was so cute and wanted to meet him. She pointed me out to him and according to her, he thought I was a nice little catch as well. So during finals week, she arranged for us to meet, I think, or he just saw me hanging out in the "quad"and came up and started talking to me. I have NO idea what was said, I can't remember for the life of me. All I know is that he sneezed (it was really bright), he sneezed many times then wiped his nose a lot cause when you sneeze, your noes runs, right? Well, after the last sneeze, he looked at me and low and behold, he had a giant snot bubble hanging from his nose. That is the reason I can't remember the conversation, because I could not take my eyes off of that horrible sight. All of the cuteness left him immediately and my stomach was churning. I could not figure out what to do, if I should tell him or let him just walk to class with a giant snot bubble. I chose the ladder. My guess is that he went to the bathroom to blow his nose (because I bet he was slightly freaking out he didn't completely clean his running nose when he wiped it) and noticed the bubble. It makes a lot of sense that he never called me (he did get my number). If I had gone out with him, chances are, I would only see a snot bubble when I looked into his face.

SO, this was very random, but I had a good laugh. I laughed as I told Scott about it today, I laughed as I wrote it all out, and I laughed as I imagined Jenny Hill Peterson (freshman roommie) reading this and cracking up because she remembers me telling her all about it! Every time your kid gets a snot bubble, or heaven forbid, yourself, I hope you think of me and the awkward situation I was in so many years ago!

Ragnar 2010

Remember when Scott and I did THIS?

Well, I also did it the summer before we were married. Both Scott and I were signed up to run this last year, but I did not feel ready to leave my very new baby. So, we dropped out a few weeks before the big race. I was craving to run the Ragnar this year. After two years of not running it, I had forgotten everything I hated about it and could only remember only things I loved. It's funny. There are probably more things that I hate about the Ragnar then I love, but what I love far outweighs those things I don't. A friend of mine and I tried to round up a Pinellas County team but most people rejected our offer. Whimps! I Kid.

Well, a week and a half before the big race, I was talking to my sis who was hanging out with our good friend. This friend has a sister who lives out here in the FL and she was running the Ragnar. Half seriously, half not, I told her to tell her SIL that if they needed a runner, I was their gal. Now you know how sometimes we offer our assistance half heartedly? That was kind of what I did. I really didn't think that two days later, I would be getting a phone call inviting me to run the Ragnar...Had I been training? No. Did I have a good pair of running shoes? No. Did I know anyone on my potential team? No. Did I say, "Yes?". Of course!

I did run one 11 miler the Saturday before Ragnar and it made me super nervous for the race becuase I realized just how unprepared I was. Oh well, it was still amazing!

Here I am, a Sole Sister, ready to head out to the first exchange (I ran in the 2nd van so that means we didn't start our legs until later in the day).

Oh the Love. Van 2 in all of her Glory. We really did have a great little group. I felt like I bonded with each of these girls and felt so close so fast. Aubrey (far left standing by me), was the reason I got invited to run. She had been running in her marathon and injured her leg. So, she did what any good person would do...drive the car for us. We totally appreciated her. The rest of the ladies were amazing and so fun. We had many serious conversations that even involved some tears, laughs about bathroom humor, and even some pretty scary faces. Oh the crazy things that we thought were funny when you are going on no sleep!

No, I wasn't really running, but I was ready to go






The whole group. No one could beat the "Sole Sisters!" I mean that figuratively and not literally beacause we got beat by just bout every team.





Still feeling good!!! Oh wait, because I hadn't run yet. I was just about to start my first leg. I told myself that I didn't want to get passed by ANYONE. Well, about halfway through my run, I notice someone slowly sneaking up behind me (well running). We will call her, "Fishy." Well, she snuck right past me and I never could catch up. She just had a lot more in her than I did. The team she was on was being sponsored by their husbands who were professional Bass Fisherman. They had video cameras on them and everything. I bet they recorded her smoking past me. I was a good sport and went and patted her on the back afterwards. I even admitted to her that there was no way I could keep her pace.

We were pretty tired in this picture. I believe it was a couple hours before our second leg. We spent a lot of time in this van. I can't imagine what it smelled like once all of us peeled our stinky selves off of the seats for good.


Our awesome driver, Aubrey. She saved us from some crazy drivers!

Shelly was one of my van-mates. Shelly, me and Aubrey spent way to much jabbing and not enough time sleeping.



So, I have more pictures that I need to post, but my computer is being dumb, but I have some little funny moments that I want to write:

1. There is nothing more beautful and perfect than a nice warm shower when you are stinky and sore. But is it really worth it when they are community showers?? At our last exchange (one more leg to run), there were showers. Well, a few of our van mates had already showered and told us the water was nice and warm. Nothing else, NOTHING else was said about them being community. SO you can imagine the shock on our poor prudish faces when we walk into a room full of naked women with no shame. Three of us girls huddled in the corner, fully clothed, debating what to do first. We decided that we couldnt shower at the same time, because that would just be weird. SO Laura started first. She was back in less than a minute. Shelly was next. She was gone about 3 minute and told me she found a nice little corner and didn't turn around. SO I found the little corner she was talking about and did it. YES, I showered in a community shower. Granted, I didn't get as clean as I would like because normal shower routines can be awkward with others close by. Was I a little disturbed about the "Openess" of some of the women? Yes. Was I grossed out about the dirty underwear left on the floor? Yes. Was I happy that I was able to conquer a huge feat? ABSOLUTELY

2. Forgetting how to sleep. One would think that you could fall asleep at the drop of a hat when you have had next to no sleep, been running throughout the night, cheering on your teammates that were running throughout the night, etc, etc. Not the case for almost my whole van. We were so tired that sleep did not visit us. Not once during race time did I snooze. Okay, maybe for 30 seconds cause I woke myself up after a little snore.

3. I am going to have to write more later, only because I am realizing that this is turning into a long post and I am totally putting more important things on hold to finish this. Like, cleaning my apt.

Just know that anyone that even is just considering trying out a Ragnar...DO IT. It is so dang hard, and yes, you may puke, yes you are more tired than you can ever imagine, and yes you really start to stink from the dried up sweat and dirt stuck to you, but you bond with the people in your car, you accomplish some really hard runs, and you stay up all night doing it. Now, how could that not be fun!???