Fiesta Texas Fun!

We had such a great time at Fiesta Texas last Saturday. Brooklyn loved it and on the way said, "Fiesta Texas here we come." She was so funny. Mom got tickets at work...it was her work's summer social and she and dad invited Brooklyn. I then invited myself and Joel was invited by Brooklyn. We had a great time. Although Joel and I only rode "kid" rides, we still had fun. It was great seeing how excited Brooklyn was with everything. She saw one of the rollercoasters and really wanted to go, but decided that it was just "too big for her." She was a doll.
While we were there, we all remembered when Uncle Don's family came and we went to Fiesta Texas. Good times! Grandma reminded us that she came too...good old Grandma!

A Celebrity Amongst Us

Well...who ever knew that we would have a family member who's a celebrity. Mitchell got a job as a weather man in Alaska. He's been sending me updates on what he's doing in Alaska. Today I decided to look him up on his channel's website and I found him. The picture is clearly of Mitchell...you can tell by his tall lanky frame! :) So...I thought I'd share what I found:


Arctic Orienteering Club
By Mitch Sego, CBS 11 News Reporter


In this edition of Get Out, Mitch Sego takes us to Bicentennial Park where he tried his hand at the growing sport of orienteering.
As we move into summer, people are looking for activities to get out and enjoy the outdoors. But if you're looking for a cerebral workout at the same time, say hello to orienteering. All you need is a compass, a good pair of shoes and some smarts.

"It's sort of a thinking man's sport. If you run too fast you go brain dead and then you can't figure out where you are. So you have to maintain a pace where you really aren't panting," said Arctic Orienteering Club member, Eric Follett.

Well, I never broke a sweat, but I soon found that, even on the easiest course, it's harder than it looks.


"Well, about five minutes in, we thought we were off course. But it looks like we're back on, so we're good to go," said orienteerers, Logan and Mark Kroloff.
And once you're on course, you get a sense of why people get hooked.

"It gets you out in the woods. It gives you a purpose for exercising that's fun and challenging," said Follett.

The sights and sounds are fantastic. Just remember that to really enjoy them, you'll want to have plenty of bug dope. And while beginners are always welcome, it's a good idea to start simple, so you don't end up lost.

"If you haven't done it before, I don't recommend anybody jumping into the hardest course, right off the bat. Because the people that are manning the meet don't like to stand around here forever waiting for them to show back up, sometimes," said event coordinator, Paul Carson.

It took CBS 11 News just over half an hour to do a short trail. Not too bad, I don't think.

The Arctic Orienteering Club meets weekly during the summer and hosts a variety of events all year long. The cost is six dollars per meet for non-members.

You can find all this information and more at their Web site:
www.oalaska.org

If you have any ideas for the Get Out series that you'd like to share, you can give me a call on the Get Out Hotline at 273-3118.

Green Week

This week we learned about the color green. She enjoyed coloring oscar the grouch, turtles, frogs, and more. We did a lot of coloring this week due to rain. We also divided green skittles and played green sak potatoes (she had to jump and spell green). She loved the jumping game. I have cute pics of her picking out the skitles, but they ended up not so appropriate for the internet, so these are of her jumping in her Green potato sak.

POLICE BEAT

What is it, you might ask? Well, every week in the BYU Daily Universe their is a section called "Police Beat." It was my favorite part of the week. I loved sitting down to read the "paper" to see all the stupid things BYU students did each week. Most freshman boys made it a goal to make it in the Police Beat. Many of the guys in my freshman ward actually made it in...several times. They did such things as throwing a yellow pleather DI couch out their window and girls in another dorm called the police. There were more serious things to, like the time my roommate (sophmore year) made it in for stealing books at the BYU bookstore. Mostly it is just hilarious. Today I was reading my friend, Kristan's blog and she informed me that you can now get the Daily Universe on-line. You know what that means...THE POLICE BEAT. I checked it out and they actually publish a "Best of Police Beat" each semester. I read through a couple of them and thought I would share the best ones or at least a few that should make you laugh...I know I did...right out loud! I will add a few thoughts in () of my own.

Dec. 7: The glass of a vending machine in the Harris Fine Arts Center was shattered. A male student's friend paid for a Pot Tart that the vending machine did not dispense. Thus the male student leaned his shoulder against the glass in an attempt to tip the machine and get the Pot Tart out accidentally shattering the glass in the process. (No, I did not make a typo here...that is really how it appears in the paper. I love that they call it a "POT Tart." It's funny for 2 reasons, 1 because it's BYU and POT is such a big No, NO, and 2 because it's a University Paper and the editor didn't pick it up. I don't think he will be hired at the New York Times after that mistake!) :)

Nov. 24: An individual in Deseret Towers reported five suspicious men playing pool in the lobby of one of the halls. Upon investigation it was found the men were simply students playing pool with their girlfriends. (This could be a case of jealousy...that the "individual" was not invited to play!)

Nov. 2: A student in Helaman Halls received a letter with a large sum of money in it from an address in Salt Lake. The student does not know who sent the money and the incident is under investigation.
(Although it's good when you report finding money, it's a little different when money is actually sent to you...addressed, stamped, and all!)

Aug. 25: The Creamery on Ninth reported a theft on Aug. 25. A boy entered the creamery bathroom with two bags of peanut butter M&M's. An employee noticed the boy did not leave the bathroom with the peanut butter M&M's and attempted to apprehend the boy. He fled before he could be detained. (Who wants to bet the boy was in the bathroom eating those M&M's?)

Sept. 1: A building security officer was injured after biking down a grassy hill on campus. The officer did not see a bike rack at the end of the steep hill and ran into the rack. He suffered a broken wrist and elbow. (I feel safer knowing a guy like this...who can't see something like a Bike Rack is protecting the campus.)

Nov. 21: A female student attempted to get the attention of two male students passing by Fox Hall in Heritage Halls by tapping on the glass window of the lobby. The female student shattered the glass window with her tapping. (I really want to see what this girl looks like...she must be huge or at least have really strong fingers to have a little tapping shatter her window!)

Well, I hope you enjoyed these and I reserve the right to post others as I find them. Seriously check it out sometime...it's rure to provide minutes of laughter!

Craving Cupcakes

I have a problem...I've known it for awhile, but recently I have not been able to get it undercontrol. I have been craving CUPCAKES. It all started when I moved to NYC. I fell in love with the cupcake and my love affair has continued ever since. My problem is that by moving to San Antonio I took a huge chance and I'm sad to report that it hasn't paid off...I can not find a cupcake shop anywhere in the city. Most bakeries don't even sale cupcakes in less than 1/2 a dozen quanities. I don't want 6 cupcakes...I just want ONE! Is that too much to ask? I say know, but the people around here don't agree. I have found a cupcake place in Austin and I might even be crazy enough to drive all that way to buy 1 cupcake. There is a rumor that there is a cupcake place in Helotes (a subburb of SA), but that is still unverified! WHY is this happening to me....I feel like I've been abandoned. CUPCAKES...where are you?! Instead of eating cupcakes, I've taken to just looking a pictures of them, which I think just makes the craving worse. Any suggestions of how to curb my cravings would be greatly appreciated! In the meantime I am posting this picture to help you understand why I love the cupcake. It's a cake...but little, with lots of frosting. What's not to love!?

Blue Week

Here are a few pictures of Brooklyn during blue week. She really likes the color blue, so she really enjoyed learning about blue. She has been sick the last few days, but seems to be doin better. Oh, the picture of the car is Joel's car that he is selling and Brooklyn just had to be with him while he took the pictures. She wouldnt always stay down out of the picture, she is a pretty silly girl! Happy Father's day to all!

In TWO WEEKS

Yesterday I took a little walk with Brooklyn around the neighborhood. It was a nice night. She is always great company because she is in this "chatty" phase. She was talking about baby Jack and playing basketball with him. I said, "When do you think Jack is going to get here?" She looked up at me and said (very matter of factly), "In 2 weeks." I then said, "How do you know?" She said, "I just do!" I then asked if she had told her mom that. She replied, "No yet!" So mark your calendars everyone...Jack will be here on June 26th. I have to say that I sure hope she isn't right because I will be in Michigan and I don't want this baby to come without me! Also Stephani and I are planning the babyshower for June 30th...Hold on Britni, we aren't ready for Jack yet! :)

Last Post

Okay so I have been a little crazy posting, but I have to give one BIG shout out to the Spurs! GO Spurs GO! Oh, now everytime the Spurs are on the news Brooklyn screams Go Tony Parker! And by the way I know I am the Tony Parker fan...Joel taught her that!

Brooklyn's New Favorite Movie

Okay so I was sick earlier this week and Steph came and stayed with Brooklyn. While Brooklyn was asleep Steph decided to watch Napoleon Dynamite. Stephani was watching it when Brookllyn woke up and she has been hooked ever since! Yesterday she watched it twice! She sits with her snack and juice and watches the whole thing. She is a mess! It is so funny! She doesn't laugh at the parts we would, but she finds it quite amuzing for some reason!

Why Brooklyn can't play in backyard!

Okay besides Tuff and Pepper being wild beast, this is the other reason Brooklyn cannot play on her own swing set! Tuff plays on it himself. He is a crazy dog! The sad thing is that Brooklyn and Joel love these dogs too much to give them another home! So Brooklyn will just have to keep playing in the front yard! (not that I don't love the dogs...I just have different feelings about them :)!)

More Brooklyn

Okay here are the last ones I'll post for now. Just some random ones! Enjoy

Memorial Day

Here are some pics of Brooklyn at Stephani and Nick's on Memorial day swimming at their pool. I am hoping the video will work.

Having School

So I have started a routine with Brooklyn and actually sitting down for 30 minutes or so and we have school. I am doing the colors and shapes before the baby gets here (maybe just colors) and then in the fall we will start the alphabet. So for our first week we had RED week and learned all about the color red. Here are a few pictures from red week. Last week we did yellow...wasn't so good at taking the pictures, but Brooklyn's favorite activity was separating the yellow skittles from the rest. During red week she loved going around the house looking for RED items only to put into her basket. This week is blue. Hopefully I will be better in taking the pictures. Our routine is that we open with a pray, read a book (dealing with the color), we have our lesson, then a fun activity. Enjoy the pictures!

PLA-LEASE Paris

I don't know if the rest of the world feels as I do, but I am about sick to death of Paris Hilton and her time in jail. Now she is talking to Barbara Walters about how this has changed her and she now wants to help with charities! Let's put this in perspective...she hasn't even been in jail a full week and already she is a changed person. She isn't even really in a real jail, she's in the medical wing. The media is making a really big deal about her new found perspective on life...I say, let's see how long it lasts after she gets back to her mansion and all her money.

Weeds...the BANE of my existance

I was one of those girls that always hated lawn work. As a matter of fact I can count on 2 fingers the number of times that I've actually mowed the lawn and both times it was for Grandpap. How did that girl get to where I am today? A yard full of weeds! YUCK! My ward seems to be over run with them. I also never wanted to be known as the "Weed Women" but I'm afraid that might be what my neighbors call me. It's pretty sad when Brooklyn comes over and begs to go pick weeds! It brings a whole new meaning to Child Labor laws! :)