I've become my mother!

The other day while I was doing Taliana's hair we had an interesting conversation...

• Taliana: "Mom, why do you always talk to yourself?"

• Me: "What do you mean?"

• Taliana: "You know... when you are moving your lips and nothing comes out but you are moving your head and eyes."

• Me: "Oh, all moms do that."

• Taliana: "Does your mom do that?"

• Me: "Yep!"

• Taliana: "Oh" -- then she says under her breath... "I hope I don't do that when I'm a mom." Funny thing is... she JUST DID IT! hahahaha!

I remember observing my mom when I was younger. She used to talk to herself while she did the dishes (probably because she was upset that she was left doing them by herself - SORRY MOM!) and she used to talk to herself while she was driving. Which is what I have adapted to doing. I used to be SO embarrassed that she would do that (but NOW people are talking to themselves all over the place (aka. bluetooths)).

Anyways... I just thought it was funny and a GREAT observation on Taliana's part! Don't worry... ALL moms do that!

ps... Mom, I still love you. I now understand why you NEEDED that time to talk to yourself!

Rude awakenings!

This morning was a COLD morning in our humble abode. We all woke up complaining that we were freezing, so Jason went down stairs to check the thermostat. Low and behold... our gas went out some time during the night. Yep... we didn't even have HOT water to warm up our bodies. Jason tried to restart the pilot light several times but no luck. Then we decided to check the outside meter to see if everything was okay. This is what we found....

Our poor little meter was burried under an inch of ice. I don't blame it... I would have shut off too if I were covered in ice. So... we got out all our pans and filled them wih water and started heating them on the stove. We boiled the water and pored it over the frozen meter to try and help the gas come to back life again. (I'm not sure if we are actually allowed to do that, but it worked so I'm not complaining).

I don't know how people can actually survive living in COLD weather. I don't know if I can take much more of this COLD. I need to head to the beach and unthaw.

Sundance Film Festival 2009

Jason worked security at Sundance Film Festival again this year. He worked at the Phoenix Gallery on main street that hosted private parties for the celebs. So... I went up Saturady night to hang out and see if I could spot a few stars. Jason was able to see a lot more, but it was all good. You know... where there are stars there are GREAT sponsers giving out FREE stuff. We came home with a TON of great goodies. (ie., shoes, lotion, make-up, headphones, etc.) Here are a few pics of the stars that were seen.... (we are missing Mariah Carey, Nick Cannon, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lenny Kravitz, Jennifer Aniston, Chris Rock, Hubastank & Pierce Brosnan)

Kristie Brinkley

Deidre Hall (aka Marlana on Days of Our Lives) -- don't you just love how Jason is standing there casually as his friend (turned poparazzi) snaps the picture?? hahahah

Westley Snipes (& some other guy, I can't think of his name.)

I can't remember what this guy's name is. I will update when I find out.

So... for those who know me... you know that I LOVE the TV series Criminal Minds. So, I will SO excited when I was able to meet Matthew Gray Gubler (Dr. Spencer Reed). I also met A.J. Cook's (JJ -Jennifer Jereau) husband. He is from here in Salt Lake. Did you know she is LDS?? She went of a mission and was married to her husband in the Salt Lake temple. She was unable to come because she just had a baby (Makai). Her husband was AWESOME! Jason got his number so we could call him the next time we are in CA. He even said he would take us to visit the set. AHHHHH! He shouldn't have said that... I am DEFINITELY going to call now!

Morris Chestnut & his lady. Why do I always look like a ghost in pictures?? (and my face looks puffy)

So... there you have it folks!

Happy Birthday Keikikalani!

Just wanted to give a quick shout-out to my sweet niece, Keiki. Happy Birthday! I can't believe you are 12 years old. She is always a big help when she is around and I always look forward to the summertime when Keiki and her sister (La) come and stay with us for a week (or maybe two this year).

Taliana writes, "We love you Keiki. Thank you for being such an awesome cousin. I can't wait until you come and visit us again."

Ammon writes, "Happy Birthday Keiki. Thanks for showing us the 'gummybear' song on youtube."

Here are a few pictures I have collected over the years. (however, there are a few GREAT ones I am unable to find without tearing my closet apart.) Also... I know there are a few gaps in the ages of the pictures, but oh wells.

Keiki and I were the best of friends when she was younger. Those were great times!

(ps... remember when those necklaces were cool?? wow... have times changed. hahahah)

Taliana is dancing

Taliana was accepted into Tanner Dance. We are SO excited for her. She has been beggin to dance for a while now but it just hasn't been in our budget. Thankfully Tanner Dance offers scholarships so we applied and we were SO happy to hear it all worked out.

Taliana was so worried about what to wear she made me call the school to see what she was supposed to wear. After getting all the info (and after calling Jennifer so see exactly what a leotard was) we headed off to Target to get the dance clothes. Taliana was so excited that she barely slept the night before. (it was like Christmas morning all over again.)

She did great for her first day and can't wait until next Saturday.

**The only thing that bumms me out is that her class is every Saturday @11:30am. So... that cuts into our weekend travels. Oh well... she only has to do this until May and then she moves up a class and attends during the week. Yeah!

update

okay... I've finally updated my blog. It has been a hectic few weeks with the holidays and last minute sewing. I'll post some pictures soon of the quilts I made for the kids for Christmas. They all turned out great!

Sorry for all the slide shows, but I had a lot of great pictures. Hope you enjoy!

Christmas

Well... we did it! We survived Christmas! We had a very low key day. We woke up and opened presents then had our Christmas breakfast (omlets and potato casserole - my dad's tradition). Then Jason went to work and the kids & I hung out and watched a movie. When Jason got home we hung out some more. I made chicken noodle soup for dinner (my grandma's tradition) and took some over to Jason's mom's house and then came back and ate and hung out some more. It was a PERFECT day!

The kids all dressed in their Christmas pajamas

Christmas morning - all ready to come down the stairs

It looked like a tornado has ripped through our house with all the wrapping paper everywhere. I tried to be more organized like my mom always was. (she always had a garbage bag ready and a bag for the bows and a place for the boxes to be saved for the next year). But... it didn't happen. I was able to get a garbage bag, but it wasn't really used until everything was opened.

Malia got a new baby from Ammon for Christmas. She screamed until it was finally free from the box. She loves her new baby and gives it loves constantly. Thanks Ammon!

Santa brought Taliana & Ammon ipod shuffles. They were SO excited to finally have their OWN music to listen to. Unfortunately.... Ammon's ipod was washed in the washer with his jeans a few days later. However... he didn't seem to mind. Maybe Santa should have thought of something different for him. hmmmm.

The kids always love spending time with Grandma Kaufusi. They begged all day long to go to her house so they could tell her all about Christmas. But they were able to talk to her throughout the day on the phone, so that was good.

New Years Day

Temple lights

We were able to see the lights at Temple Square this year. (Although... we caught them on their last day). We missed the last few years, so we were excited to be able to do it this year. We went with Todd, Alesi and kiddos. Fun was had by all and can't wait for next year!

Here are a few of the highlight pictures....

New Years Eve