Vampire Academy Series

So I started reading the Vampire Academy series a couple of weeks ago and just finished the third book, Shadow Kiss, and I have to say I loved the books. They are very much targeted towards teen agers, but I thought they were a good read and I actually got really involved with the story line and was very upset about what happened at the end of Shadow Kiss. So, if anyone needs a good read, get the Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead (book 1: Vampire Acadmeny, book 2: Frostbite, book 3: Shadow Kiss).

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to wish everyone Merry Christmas. I hope you all had a great day and remember the reason for the season! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Snow, Snow and...more Snow

For the past week it has been snowing like crazy here in the PNW. At first it was cool, but it SUX now. We do NOT live in Montana - so snow should stay in the mountains. Anyway, here are some pics from the snow. Boo. It is still snowing right now.

Notice the smiles - this was the first night it started snowing. Then, last Thursday, the snow really kicked in and there ended up being about 8" over at Gary and Lanaes. We got stranded, Loni spent all day trying to get the car up from the bottom of the hill, went through two chains, and finally ended up getting a tow truck on Friday, whose chains also broke trying to get the car out. The snow sucks.

Christmas in Seattle

A couple of weeks ago we went to Seattle with Jesse and Kandy and thier kids. It was a lot of fun - we spent time at Pacific Place, Pike Place and tried to go to the Gingerbread House exhibit, but the line was WAY too long, and even went on the carousel. Anyway, it was great to spend time with them and get down to Seattle.

Weaver Gift Exchange

It really is the Christmas season now: each year during the Holidays the Weaver family hosts an annual gift exchange where we meet at a mall, draw names from a hat and have to find a gift for the person whose name we drew for under $5. It is always a lot of fun and it means the season for giving has started!

Clam Lights at Coulon Beach

Every year down at Coulon, Ivars and Kidd Valley light up the park with lots of festive lights and decorations. It is really neat to see and Ellis really liked all the lights.

Christmas Fun!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Santa Pictures

While in Utah, Kyla and I decided to get our Santa pics done this year with all the girls together. It turned out adorable - plus it was half the cost! :)

Thanksgiving Week

So during the week of Thanksgiving we took a trip to Utah to visit my family and our friends the Stevens. It was mucho fun! The first part of the trip we drove to Fredonia, AZ to see my grandma and uncles. It was good to see them but the trip was LONG (five hours from SLC) and there isn't much to see in Fredonia. But we did have a nice visit with my family.

My Grandma!

My Uncle Curtis

My Grandpa (R) and Uncles Ronnie's (L) graves

My Uncle Dick and Ellis

For the rest of the week, we headed up to Provo to visit with Dan & Kyla and thier family. Kyla's parents let us stay at their house and it was a great visit. Very low key - but fun. Some highlights were: Kristen & Grayson's house, Thanksgiving Point, pony rides, petting zoo (we even milked a cow), Pure Luck (just ask Loni), Temple Square, hanging out talking, etc. The two low points of the trip were: The Pie (for you, Dan) YUCK! and Cloverfield. :) It was one of the funnest trips we have had. For Thanksgiving we headed to Loni's cousins house - it was great to see all of them. We headed out on Friday but left with lots of memories and miss Dan and Kyla already. All of the friends need to plan a get together for all of us to meet up with all of our kids, etc - that would be great!

(for some reason blogger is not allowing me to input the slideshow into this, so i will update later).

Lorelei!

Introducing my newest neice, Lorelei Alana Dougherty. Born Tuesday, November 19 weighing in at 8lbs, 1 oz, born to Adam and Amber Dougherty and big sister Jaida. Congratulations - she is beautiful!

Twilight Review

So last night my friend and I braved the late hours and scores of hormone-ridden teenagers to go to the midnight opening of Twilight. I went in with my idea of how I wanted the story to be translated on-screen and what I saw I like and disliked at the same time. Here are my feelings broken out (with a couple thoughts, though not all):

What I liked:
- Edward - he was incredibly handsome and sexy in the movie - I think they cast very well for the role of Edward.
- I liked all of the Cullens (I just wished they had more screen time)
- Edward's jacket
- The fight scene in the ballet studio (though I think it should have gone longer and it ended a little more corny for my taste)

What I didn't like:
-Kristen Stewart as Bella: she was so awkward and did a lot of breathy sighs throughout the movie. I don't feel she was cast well at all.
- I feel like the plot was rushed, especially at the beginning. I don't know why they didn't take time to tell the story a bit better and just make the movie a little longer.
- Jacob and Bella's first meeting - it was SO awkward to watch; like bad acting
- The little details they could have made match the book but chose not to, including:
- Carlisle's car had tinted windows, the one in the movie did not
- Carlisle did not invite Laurent and crew to play ball
- The ballet studio was supposed to be little - not huge like the one they used
- Bella snuck away at the airport, not the hotel

I walked away from the movie last night a little disappointed, but my friend was pleased (she didn't have any expectations for the movie). It is hard because I want the movie to literally translate the book page for page onto the big screen, but deep down I know that wish is over the top.

Overall, now that I have had a three hours sleep to think about it, I liked the movie and want to see it again, though I will always prefer the books. I really would like to have someone who has not read the books, see the movie and let me know what they think. So if you know of anyone that has done that, please let me know.

Anyway, that is my two cents, though it is probably worth less. :)

All Grown Up!

The other morning I came out and Ellis had gotten into my shoes and put them on and was walking around the house saying "shoes, shoes!". It was so adorable, but also made me think about how grown up she is. I can't believe she is already 19 months old - I feel like the time has literally flown by. Her are some stats on her now:

- At her last appt, she weighed 25 lbs

- She still doesn't have all of her teeth

- Her favorite thing is her Bin-thy (binky). She will throw the biggest tantrums if you don't give her her bin-thy

- She will repeat almost everything you ask her to say, but here are some things she says on her own: "I see you", Bye-bye, 'I love you', "i wa-wee (for I want water)", Elmo, Jesus, poopy, Bath time, "i got you", books, No-ooo, Jaida, Donnie, Pop-pa (grandpa) and Mo-mma (grandma) and tons of other words and phrases. she is becoming quite the little chatter box.

- She gets excited over anything Christmas (lights, trees, etc)

- She gives kisses liberally. And all of her kisses are followed by a smacking noise (the kissing smack)

- She absolutely loves babies. Amber always says that Ellis is a good mommy to ALL her babies because she finds babies wherever she goes and takes care of them. Her number one baby goes with her everywhere: she sleeps with her, takes care of her, kisses her, wraps her in blanket, etc. It is so cute.

- She has a great personality - she knows what she wants and if she doesn't get it, she can throw a tantrum like none other.

- She likes me to sing her to sleep at night and she usually wants me to lay with her to fall asleep

- Whenever she eats a go-gurt, she goes and sits in the same spot in the kitchen on the ground and eats it with me

- She loves books - she will read books all day if she could

- She is on an Elmo kick right now and "talked" her daddy into getting her a Christmas Elmo movie. Anything Elmo makes her super excited!

- She loves to go "high in the sky". When she wants Loni to throw her in the air, she will walk up to us and go "sky!"

- She likes to do acrobatic tricks on her horse (ie: stands up on it without holding on to anything)

- She hates wearing socks and shoes; anytime she has these on and is left alone for a certain amount of time, she will take them off

- She is getting more confident with talking: today she came up to me and pointed to my: eyes and said eyes, nose and said nose, mouth and said mouth. it melted my heart.

- She will pick up anything that resembles a phone put it up to her ear and walk around saying "hello.....hello....hello...."

So this is just a few things about her. I wish I could list everything she does, but I am ready for bed now. :) She is a wonderful part of our lives and I love her so much.

Happy Birthday, Kristy!

I had a great birthday this year. The Saturday before my birthday, my mom and dad took me (and Loni and Ellis) out for the annual birthday breakfast. It was a lot of fun and delicious too! About a month before, my mom took me shopping for my birthday, so she had already given me my presents (Thanks, mom)! Sunday (my actual birthday), we went to church in the morning and then had a nice relaxing morning/afternoon at home. For one of my birthday presents Loni got tix to Teatro Zinzanni, which we went that night. We dropped Ellis off with Gary and Lanae who gave me a wonderful bath robe, a painting Ellis did and a painting Gary did of Ellis. They are wonderful (thanks, Gary and Lanae)! Before the show, we went downtown and walked around the Seattle Center. We went to the ride area at the Seattle center and rode the rollercoaster there. Loni really wanted to ride it, so I humored him and it ended up being fun - but bumpy. Then we ended up at a celebration for Dia de los Muertos (my birthday is also the Day of the Dead) and it was crazy to see all of the celebrations and things that the Mexican culture does for this day. They had dancing, shirts, face painting, candles, etc...it was crazy. I felt like we were still in our apartment complex! Anyways, on to Teatro Zinzanni: it was a great show, good food and even better theater. I have always wanted to go...so score points to Loni for listening to me. It was fun to get out with Loni and spend some time alone with him. Thanks for the great birthday to everyone who made it special!

This is a crazy pumpkin they had outside the theater.

Happy Halloween!

Every year we usually go to the Mt. Baker area of Seattle and hit up the nice houses for all the candy we can handle. But this year, Loni was sick so my mom and I ended up going trick or treating with Ellis. She loved it! Once she realized all she had to do was go knock on someone's door and they would give her candy, she was completely game! She even kept trying to go into everybody's house that we went to. Her little outfit was adorable and she loved it. She kept saying, "Kitty, Kitty" all night. I have a great video of the night that I will try and upload, but for now, here are the pictures: