CHAD, ANGIE and OLIVER

Let it SNOW!!

2012-01-18T12:14:00.000-08:00

It DOES snow in Seattle!

We took Oliver out to play in the snow. I couldn't tell if he actually liked the snow, or if he just liked (1) being outside, and (2) playing with mommy and daddy.

Yes- those are socks on his hands. We had to improvise with 3 layers of clothing and the socks instead of mittens.

My favorite boys!

The snowman looked more like a snow-penguin :)

Here is a video, I hope it works!

After coming inside we got him warm, dry, and gave him a bottle, but he still had to reposition himself so he could see out the window and watch the snow fall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today work and school are cancelled!! So we have all day to have a fun snow day together as a family. Our neighbors had seen us take Oliver out in the yard yesterday, and brought over a snowsuit and infant sled that we could borrow!

We bundled Oliver up and took a walk to the diner just down the road.

I love walking in the snow, everything seems so quiet and magical.

I was afraid that Oliver might get too cold, tired or upset, but he just enjoyed the ride!

Isn't he just so cute!?

We made it to the diner. We ate yummy food and Oliver ate the menu ;)

It was such a fun morning. Oliver fell asleep on the ride home, Chad managed to un-bundle him and transfer him to his crib and now I have Chad home on a Wednesday, Oliver peacefully sleeping, and nothing to do but relax! :)

A walk to Hamlin Park

2012-01-12T23:11:00.000-08:00

Today I took Oliver for his first walk through Hamlin Park. It is a "park" (more like a forest) located just down the street from where we live. It is so beautiful, one of the perks of living in the great northwest!

A couple of minutes into our walk I was startled by this huge owl that swooped down 20 feet away (I am NOT exaggerating) from us and attacked a squirrel. The squirrel was lucky and got away... it might have had something to do with my scream that startled the owl.

I'm not sure how large owls are typically, but this one was at least 2 feet tall, and with that and having him attack the squirrel so close to us... lets just say he made me nervous. (The photo on the left is one of him turning his head around-- they really do that?!-- to keep an eye on Oliver and I as I grabbed a quick photo before I backed away). The bird was beautiful and it I was glad to see it, but I do admit that even though the exit was uphill, I walked backward just to keep an eye on the owl. Haha, I know I'm a bit crazy, but JUST IN CASE the bird decided to swoop down on us I wanted to be able to protect Oliver... that's not unrealistic, right?

Oliver fell asleep pretty quickly so it was a short walk and I was excited to take him home and transfer him to his bed for a nap...

but in true Oliver-fashion, he woke up and refused to go back to sleep, which completely messed up his nap/sleep schedule for the day... again.

But who can be mad at that face?

As frustrating as being a mom can be, and as much as I miss sleep, this little guy is so VERY worth it!

6 Months old

2012-01-12T22:33:00.000-08:00

My baby boy is 6 months old!! We had his 6mo doctors appointment yesterday and here are his "stats":

He is about 29 inches long (98th percentile)

weighs 20.5 lbs (89th percentile)

and his head circumference is 18.25 inches (99th percentile)

So he is thinning out, but he's still a big boy for his age.

He loves playing with all of the toys his family sent him for Christmas. Right now the rattles are his favorite.

He likes to watch me dance like a fool, and laughs at practically anything Chad does. He is most definitely a daddy's boy. The sound that you make when you erase and wipe the eraser off the paper is always HYSTERICAL to him... I don't understand why.

As much as he loves his toys, the two items that he ALWAYS wants are: my cell phone, and his spoons. I'm always afraid that he's going to gag or hurt himself with the spoons, so I have to sit right next to him when he plays with them, but for some reason he really loves playing with and chewing on them.

He is still trying to figure out the whole crawling thing. Here are just a few of the many awkward positions he gets himself into while trying to crawl.

He does a lot of "planking" on his hands and toes. He can pivot around, and pushes himself backward, so it is common for me to find him stuck from the shoulders down underneath the couch.

He is completely outgrowing his little baby bathtub, but he doesn't seem to mind.

EVERYONE says that Oliver looks like Chad, but there are a few moments where I think he looks like me. This picture of him smiling in the bathtub in one of them- I think he looks just like I did as a baby.

There are so many things that I could say about Oliver. He has changed so much in these first 6 months and I am beginning to see more and more of his personality every day. Over all he is a very happy, playful, determined, and curious boy. I think I'm going to be in trouble once he figures out how to crawl and walk!!

In case you haven't seen it, here is a link to the video I made of Oliver's first 6 months:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_w2PAygGtI

Forgotten Pictures

2011-12-06T16:48:00.001-08:00

I am trying to catch my blog up to date, and so this last post (for today) is sort of a mess of pictures I have forgotten to share. Forgive me for the lack of organization.

Oliver is such a happy baby and as he gets older I get more and more pictures of his huge smile! I also like this picture because I love the outfit that my mom got him!

For my 24th birthday we went down town.

We rode the monorail,

and made sure we got at least 1 picture with Oliver and the iconic Space Needle.

Oliver loves to eat anything he can put in his mouth, especially his feet.

This is how we have to give him his baths. Basically we scrub him down with soapy cloths (like a sponge bath) and then put him in his little bath to rinse off and "soak" for a little bit. I say that sarcastically because he basically sits in a little puddle of water, which is the reason for the preliminary scrub down. I'm not sure the infant tub was ever really big enough for him, but it's all we have so we have been grateful for it.

With that said, we'll be even more grateful for a real bathtub one day!!

I got some cute pictures of him smiling with this holiday sign, but I think this one with his pouty face is just as cute! It reminds me of my niece Sommer who had the most extreme lower lip pout that I have ever seen!

The Christmas sign got glitter on his hand and feet, and he kept pouting until we had him all cleaned and changed. So I guess he's old enough to "pout".

He is also old enough to hold his bottle. He cannot feed himself his whole bottle, but for the first half of it he's pretty good at, and likes, to hold it himself.

He loves his exersaucer,

but sometimes he gets bored so I take him to the children's center to play with different toys and for a change in environment.

It is so funny to me that even when surrounded by so many fun and new toys, all he ever wants is his dirty burp rag... don't worry though- this time it was clean so I let him suck on it.

He's getting so big!

Oliver loves hanging out with daddy, and is always entertained by Donkey Kong (the Wii game). I think it's all of the sounds and colors. He doesn't learn anything, but when I just need him happy and entertained- I have Chad play the Wii. Haha, I don't think he minds too much.

Oliver officially outgrew his infant car seat (6 months too early). So Christmas came early this year and we got Oliver a new carseat! Oh yeah, and that second picture of him sticking his tongue out- he does that ALL the time. If he doesn't have something in his mouth, he's either sticking his tongue out, or blowing raspberries.

Oliver and I always have fun when we go to the library.

Maybe he'll even study at BYU's library one day!

After this ridiculously long post, I feel about as tired as Oliver looks here :)

What a sweet boy he is!

Christmas Lights at the Zoo

2011-12-06T16:15:00.001-08:00

Oliver loves lights! So to celebrate Christmas, what would be better than going to see some Christmas lights?-- the only problem is that they are sparse in Seattle (at least compared to Utah Valley) so we went to the Zoo!!

I know, it is sort of random, but they had soooo many lights!

It took us a while to figure out how to get a picture without having the flash take away from the bright lights in the background.

Oliver LOVED IT!! You can't quite tell in this picture...

So I'll show you this picture. Even though you can't see the lights as well, and I look weird, look at Oliver's face!! HAHA! He just loved all the lights!!

I liked this tree. There were so many lights on it!!

Now, it is time for the disappointing part. In addition to seeing all of the Christmas lights, I really wanted to go to see the SCUBA DIVING SANTA!! Ridiculous... but AWESOME! Right? :)

I guess I didn't read the fine print because they only do that on Wednesdays and Sundays. We were one of the unlucky folks who came on Saturday. Oliver enjoyed seeing all of the fish, and sharks in the aquarium. He especially liked the glowing jellyfish... but I was pretty bummed out that I didn't get to see Santa scuba dive with the sharks. Maybe next year.

Merry Christmas season! :) I hope you all are enjoying celebrating the holidays as well.

Red Rock Canyon

2011-12-06T15:49:00.001-08:00

My family went to Red Rock Canyon while in Vegas for Thanksgiving. It was beautiful and a lot of fun to climb all over the rocks. I didn't put too many pictures because I'm just stealing these from my photos my dad took and I'm sure he will post more of them. These are some of my favorite:

The girls!

Sisters... ugh... I don't even know what to say. When I think about how much I love my sisters and enjoy spending time with them... it just makes me cry. THIS ONE needs to call me more ;)

The "money shot". Having my dad around is like having our own personal photographer!

Oliver really does enjoy any chance he gets to be outside. He was so excited!

I'm not quite ready to write my post about my grandparents, but I will say that I miss them and love them dearly. My family was nice enough to let Oliver wear Grandpa G's special baseball cap that he loved. I was surprised when my dad gave us that hat for Oliver to have and use. I think of my grandpa every time I notice Oliver's steel blue eyes, and in this picture, with grandpa's hat on I can't help but realize that my grandparents live on through us. I sure miss them, and I want to make them proud.

Bumbo

2011-12-06T14:36:00.001-08:00

In case you didn't notice from the last post, I have colored my hair dark... again. I guess it's not a surprise that I changed my hair, since I cannot stick with the same hair color/style for more than 3 months or so, but I'm actually pretty happy with it right now. I've never been this dark, I was always afraid it would wash me out. As I've gotten older (and spent more time in Seattle) I've realized that you don't have to be tan to have dark hair, but that being fair skinned can be just as beautiful :)

Since I'm still figuring out how to take care of Oliver, my house, get a work out in, and try and make myself presentable in the mornings... it is very common for me to have no make up on and to throw my hair in a pony tail. So most days I don't necessarily look my best, which is fine, but not on the day after I color my hair! Haha, so even though Oliver was being a stinker and wouldn't take his nap, I didn't let that stop me from spending some time on myself that morning. I just had him tag along!

I put him in his Bumbo seat,

and he sat and watched me get ready for the day. He thought it was so funny and was thoroughly entertained as he watched me put on my make up and curl my hair.

... That lasted about 8 minutes before I got bored and needed to put something in his mouth. I didn't realize he needed something until he just started doubling over in order to chew on his seat. It looked so uncomfortable but even after I gave him a toy to play and suck on, all he wanted was to chew on his seat.

The great thing about Bumbo seats is that they are really difficult for babies to get out of. As you can see from this picture, I can no longer put Oliver in this little green seat while on the counter, or desk with me. He has outsmarted the Bumbo and can now wiggle his way out of it.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-12-02T13:59:00.000-08:00

We were able to go to Las Vegas this year to celebrate Thanksgiving with Family. This year the importance of family has been made so very clear to me. With the loss of my Grandma H, Grandma G, Grandpa G, and the birth of my first son it is obvious to me that the most important thing in life is Family. I am so very grateful for my family.

What a cutie :)

I tried spending some time in the kitchen to learn some much needed cooking skills, but the only evidence that we have of that is me sneaking some frosting. Maybe it is because that's really all I did was stand around and sneak food when I thought no one was looking! At least Rachel was kind enough to try and make it look cute and artistic in the first photo. That photo belongs in Martha Stewart magazine or something!

... and then there is photo #2 :) Haha, that's more like it!

This picture is so funny because we always went to Rachel when we needed to get Oliver to smile for a picture. She could always work her magic and get him to smile or laugh... except for this picture.

Like Mommy, like son.

We love this boy so much!

Even giving him baths are fun.

I am so excited to be starting my own little family. What a blessing it is.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Chad's profile on Mormon.org

2011-10-10T15:01:00.000-07:00

I see my husband's testimony every day in how he lives his life, but every time I hear him bear record of the truthfulness of the gospel, it just melts my heart. I am so grateful to have him as my husband, a loving father, a protector, provider, and priesthood holder.

I still have yet to finish my profile for Mormon.org, but Chad has his finished and I thought I'd share it.

P.S. I know that The Church is asking all members to fill out profiles for the website. They are putting an extra emphasis in our area right now, I've seen billboards and commercials. I think it is a great way to share our testimonies without feeling pushy or uncomfortable. I looked up Lindon and I'm seeing a big lack of representation. So get on it!! :)

www.mormon.org/me/612G/

Hi, I'm Chad

I love backpacking, carpentry, and my family. I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I can't get enough of the outdoors. Backpacking through the wilderness is my favorite hobby. I also play guitar and sing in a band. I'm finishing up an apprenticeship in Carpentry. I love working with my hands. Just recently my wife and I had a son. Out of all the words I could use to describe me I think I like 'Dad' the best!

Why I am a Mormon

While I was finishing up high school I began to see how many different paths a person could take in life. I just wanted a path that would bring me true happiness and peace of mind. I considered my options and decided it was time to know for myself if what I had been taught as a child was true or not. The Book of Mormon was essential for me. I came to know my Savior better because of that book. Through prayer, scripture study, and personal revelation I know that Jesus Christ lives and has restored His church on the earth. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that church. Every question I've had about this life, my purpose, and where we are heading has been answered. Looking back on the choice to follow this path, I really did find true happiness and peace of mind.

How I live my faith

I'm constantly learning in the church. Right now I help teach the youth in Sunday School. They are in high school so they can be a talkative bunch. I'm leaning to have patience. Those moments when we are all captivated by the lessons and learning together by the Spirit are priceless.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-10T14:37:00.000-07:00

We took a short trip for some family fun at a pumpkin patch this weekend.

Oliver loved it. Of course he would have liked walking around our yard just as much. He just loves being outside and always is happier on the weekends when he's got daddy around!

I say that is was a short trip, and that's because we forgot a hat for Oliver. Ooops.

It's not the most flattering of photos, but it's got all 3 of us! I just love my little family!

Chad was finally able to relax once we had Ollie back home and his head sufficiently warm. Oliver sure does love his daddy.

I think I can... I think I can... ugh, Why am I doing this?!

2011-10-10T13:18:00.000-07:00

Last summer I got in the best shape of my life! I felt so good about myself, and I felt great physically- like I could do anything! ... 9 months later... lets just say I gained a "healthy" amount of weight throughout the pregnancy.

I know that I'm not grotesque or anything... but after having given my body up for 9 months, I just want to have it back. There is an irrational side of me that feels like I should already be back to my normal size. I swear I see other women do it all the time!! Then there is the side of me that wants to believe the doctors that say you need to give your body the same 9 month time frame to get back to "normal" (I say that with " "s because I know that my hips will never get back to where they were before). So after getting frustrated and exhausting myself with all of the negative focus I've given my body in the last couple of months, I decided to make a healthy goal that will take the focus off of how I view myself, and onto a healthy attainable goal. I'm going to run a 5k!

I'm lucky to have Chad on board and we've made this a family goal. We haven't selected a specific run yet, but I want to run one of the many holiday races.

We got a rain cover for Oliver, and some rain appropriate running attire for me, so that I don't have the excuse of not being able to run when it rains (which is EVERY DAY now.)

I am only a week and a half into my Couch to 5K program and I'm remembering why I hate running when I'm out of shape. Chad is starting to feel his shinsplints come back again... and I'm tempted to throw my hands in the air and say "oh well, I tried"... but I'm not going to! I can do this!!... I hope.

Date Night, New Crib, and Nellie the Giraffe

2011-10-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

Chad and I went out on a date!! We were lucky enough to have Oliver's Uncle Eric agree to come over and watch him for the night so Chad and I could go to a concert.

We had nothing (and when I say nothing, I mean ABSOLUTELY nothing) in the house for Eric to eat while he was here, so I figured I would take Oliver for a short walk to the grocery store and pick up a quick easy dinner for our awesome babysitter.

Somehow between walking into the grocery store, and arriving at the soup I managed to forget that I had walked there with Oliver and did not have a car to take home whatever groceries I bought. I did not, however, forget how little food I had at home so I ended up getting a plethora of groceries. I did not realize my mistake until I had exited the store with Oliver in his carrier and a cart full of groceries. I was too proud to walk back in... so I carried it all home. I'm not quite sure why I didn't just sneak away with the cart, but I filled both of my arms with bags and barely made it home. The food wasn't light either, it included items like 1 lb of grapes and a gallon of milk. Needles to say, I got some weird looks on my walk home, and think I might have pulled a muscle in my forearm.

We also got a crib!! I was planning on waiting until we move to our next place, but we were given this one for free. So although it takes up most of our room, we make it work. I can handle the lack of space right now, but as soon as this little boy gets mobile I'm going to need a bigger place!!

Oliver has also started to grab at, hold on to, and pull things to his mouth. Mostly he likes being able to play with his blankets, but recently he's taken a liking to his toy giraffe.

I've named the giraffe Nellie (even though I realize it sounds like a horses name), and she's the only toy he'll play with.

Sitting up... in progress...

2011-10-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

My little boy is growing up fast! Uh, and that smile, it just melts my heart!

He has been able to sit up with the assistance of the boppy pillow on the couch for a while, and in the last month he stopped needing the pillow and just likes to sit up on the couch so he can watch me clean, do Pilates... and his favorite: dance! Haha, I'm not going to post pictures of that, but lets just say that if Oliver is fussy- he can't help but smile and laugh once I start bustin' a move!

So far he doesn't really love his Bumbo seat. It is almost as if it gives him so much support around his bottom and lower back, he expects it behind his head and gets unhappy when it's not there.

HaHA! I love this picture! I wish it wasn't so fuzzy. Now that he's 3 months old he has great control of his head and as long has he has something to hold on to (most often my hand) he can sit up just fine on his own.

He's a very curious baby and loves to look around at his environment.

So when I pull the camera out, he always notices and stops whatever cute thing he is doing to just stare at the camera! This means that if we want to get a video of him we most often have to try and sneak up on him.

P.S. I hate trying to post videos on the blog, they make it so difficult! So I put some on my Facebook page. Just go to my pictures, and click on view all videos.

August 2011

2011-09-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

TUMMY TIME

When I put Oliver on his stomach he usually spend most of the time relaxing, sleeping, or sucking on his fist. I think he is just really comfortable laying on his tummy, and he especially likes having the advantage over his trapped hand!

Yesterday he propped himself up and made his usual concerned expression, but instead of lying back down he surprised me by staying up and looking around for a couple of minutes.

He even gave me a smile.

DADDY'S BOY

Chad wanted to recreate one of his baby pictures with Ollie since Grandma Blaser gave us Chad's old baby blanket.

This is the best we could do. As cute as Ollie's little chubby rolls are... he's not quite the rolly-polly that Chad was!

We've come to the consensus that Oliver looks more like I did when I was an infant, but it'll be fun to see how that changes as he grows. I can definitely see a bit of both Chad and I in him, and a few characteristics that are all his own.

THE BEACH

We enjoyed what I think will be the last sunny weekend this year at the beach. It's amazing how once you have a baby you become hyper-aware of any possible hazard around you! Kids playing lacross, and dogs running around happily through the shallow waters are no longer fun happy things to watch... but possible disasters!

Although we didn't stay very long, still managed to have some fun in the sun :)

Oliver's first "play date"

2011-09-09T22:22:00.000-07:00

First of all... LOOK AT THAT BELLY! Ah, he's so cute!!

A friend of mine and I decided to get together for a "play date" at Green Lake. It is this pretty, very popular, lake with a trail around it where people run, walk, skate, and bike. I used to run around the lake, and now I like taking Oliver there for a nice walk.

Oliver loves being in his stroller. When I take him for walks he's either sleeping, or cooing happily.

Not that you can tell by these photos, but Ollie really liked the water. He got upset when I put him back on the blanket.

Oliver and Raphael are obviously too young to really pay attention to each other, but hopefully they'll enjoy spending time together in the future because being able to spend time with my friend was wonderful!

Oh yes, and he's a PRO at lifting his head up! (Although he does still spend the majority of his tummy time trapping his fist and working really hard to get at his thumb. For now, he just sucks on his whole fist.)

Day Hike at Deception Pass

2011-09-06T08:15:00.000-07:00

Chad and I wanted to go camping over Labor Day weekend, but waited too long and couldn't get reservations at any of the parks we wanted to go to. So we went to check out one of the really popular state parks called Deception Pass for a day hike.

This was Oliver's first real outdoor outing, and I guess it was good for a little trial run.

It was fun, and if anything- made us wish we had gone camping even more! I think we're going to try and go somewhere close next weekend.

The park was BEAUTIFUL, and we only got to see a very small portion of it.

Tried to take some pictures with Ollie and Mommy...

... wasn't working so well...

... until we got out of the sun and pulled the magic binki out! -- This kid is already addicted.

We saw this sign as we were hiking up to the bridge...

...apparently Chad didn't get the message.

It was a bit windy, but a great view from up there.

By the end of the day, all 3 of us were ready for a family nap :)

Sweet Cheeks a.k.a. Oliver

2011-08-27T10:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent pictures of Ollie.

My smiling baby

2011-08-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

All of you that thought Oliver was the bottom picture (on the previous post), you were right!! I guess it wasn't that hard to tell, but I was curious to see if all of you that don't see him every day could tell the difference between him and Massi.

He is smiling more and more, and I finally got a picture of it! Isn't he adorable?!

Look-a-likes

2011-08-25T13:53:00.000-07:00

Which one is which? One of these pictures is Oliver at 8 weeks old, and one of them is his cousin Massimo at 2 1/2 months. It seems pretty obvious to me, but I was surprised to look back and see how much Ollie and Massi look alike!

... 6 weeks later...

2011-08-09T14:32:00.000-07:00

Oliver has changed so much in the first 6 weeks of his life, and since my family is not here to see it, here is an update :)

Oliver has gained 5 lbs since leaving the hospital and is now in the 90%s for weight, length, and head size. He's wearing 3-6mo, and 6mo clothing. I feel so bad that there are quite a few outfits he didn't even get to wear before I realized they were all too small.

Oliver loves: music- (he really REALLY loves listening to music... not the typical baby music though, he seems to already have great taste ;) ), laying underneath his hanging toys and swatting/grabbing at them, and yes- he is still memorised by light!

Oliver hates: being burped, and tummy time. He has a really strong neck, but whenever I lay him on his belly he just kicks his legs really hard and gets upset... or he just falls asleep.

I thought his outfit was cute today so I took some pictures of him as he stared at the light (very typical).

Note: He is wearing a sweatshirt in August... which sadly enough is appropriate for the weather we're having right now!

**Special note for SOMMER!** Sommer, we miss you already. Happy Birthday! Here is Oliver giving you a birthday wave and saying "Hi!" from Seattle!

Oliver's Blessing Day

2011-07-31T17:15:00.000-07:00

Oliver had his baby blessing at church today. Grandma Glassford had gotten him his blessing outfit months ago and I was so excited that it fit him!

He looked so adorable!

Let's just hope that he still looks this cute in a tux by the time he goes to prom :)

Fun with Daddy

2011-07-05T15:56:00.000-07:00

Chad is such a wonderful husband and father! Not only has he been so helpful and great with Oliver, but he has been the support that I have needed over the past week.

I love love LOVE this movie- you have to watch it!

Chad figured out that Oliver likes to dance. Whenever Chad does this with him it puts a big smile on his face.

July 4th

2011-07-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

We went to a parade to celebrate the 4th of July with Paige, Eric and the kids. It gave us the chance to try out his stroller for the first time... which I LOVE!! **note** to all of you family members who think I'm trying to do too much while I should be recovering... you might be right- but this isn't one of them! We had Eric save us spots, Chad dropped Oliver and I off and he went to park the car and walk back on his own. So in the end, I do more walking around the house then I did at this parade.

Ollie got a little fussy and I didn't want to take him out and have him in the direct sunlight... so yes... I gave in and let him try the binki. He liked it. I think my mom is right- he's going to be a binki baby. JUST as long as we have him off of the binki by the time he's a toddler, I guess I'm okay with it.

Over all he really liked the stroller, and I think he liked the warmth of being outside.

Happy Independance day!

We made it through the first week!

2011-07-05T14:57:00.000-07:00

We've had a great first week with Oliver. He's such a blessing to us, and has already brought such happiness into our lives! This is his chair that can rock, vibrate and play music. When looking for baby stuff everything had music and vibration. I was surprised and thought that the vibration was a bit odd... and so far, Oliver agrees with me.

Paige gave us this wonderful car seat cover. She never gets to use it because Massimo hates being in a car seat, but lucky for us Oliver loves his car seat!

Every time we put him in it he zonks out.

As you can see from all of these pictures, he spends most of time eating (don't worry, I won't be posting any pictures of that!) and sleeping :) I'll have to try and get some pictures of him when he is awake.

I am absolutely in love with this boy!!

Hospital stay & my beautiful baby boy

2011-07-02T06:38:00.000-07:00

My life has changed so much in such a short period of time! I love Oliver so so so so much and feel so blessed to have him in our lives. I loved having some time to spend with my mom and sister. I miss my family so much and any time with them, even if it's cut short, means the world to me.

I can't say how much it meant to have my mom there with me. She helped me so much before and after the delivery. When I was in some intense pain she was my angel always at my side. Wish you were still here mom.

Heather had the magic touch. I think every time she held him he messed his diaper :)

New daddy,

new mommy,

and our precious son.

We are still doing well. Oliver is happy, healthy, and gets even more adorable every day! Chad is doing a great job of helping me while I'm recuperating, and is enjoying being a father and caring for Oliver. Paige is such a comfort! She keeps bringing me breakfasts and I know that I can always call her for anything, and the ladies in my relief society (church) are bringing me meals. I feel so blessed to have such a great support system and family!!

Hopefully I will continue to feel better and I'll get some pictures/videos posted of Ollie at home :)

Baby Oliver Eric is Here!

2011-06-28T11:39:00.000-07:00

We would like to announce the arrival of our darling son, Oliver Eric Blaser.

Born Monday, June 27, 2011 at 9:08 am.
He weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces.
He is 20 inches long.

June BBQ

2011-06-16T20:34:00.000-07:00

We had a small bbq with some friends and family and Matthews Beach today.

Ridge was the only one brave enough to actually get in the water.

Sommer kept hiking up her skirt to make sure it stayed dry, even though there was obviously no need :) She's so cute!

We played Bocci (I think that's what it's called?) which was really a lot of fun!

As you can see from my expression I got a bit competitive... surprised?

Finally got Chad to take one last picture before the baby comes. I can't believe I've only got about a week and a half to go! I can't wait to see him!!!

Easter

2011-04-26T16:51:00.000-07:00

We didn't do much to celebrate Easter this year...

but I did color some eggs with my friend. We silk screened them with some old ties. Although they didn't quite live up to our expectations, it was fun trying something new and just hanging out with her.

Chad was in charge of making the dessert for our Easter dinner with Eric, Paige and the kids. He had made the cake and the frosting and I stepped away for one minute and came back to this!! He was too impatient to wait for the cake to cool, and didn't even tell me that he was going to try and stack it. So I was surprised to find him trying to use the frosting as glue to try and keep the crumbling cake together! -- It did actually taste pretty good though :)

Here is a recent picture of me and my huge belly! Only 2 more months and I get to meet my little Oliver!!

Chad's first show

2011-03-19T15:11:00.000-07:00

Chad's band, Black Buck, had their first show this week. It was fun to see him preform and eventually let loose a little on stage :)

Here is a short clip of one of their songs.

Not-So-Little-Anymore Baby Bump

2011-03-09T21:04:00.000-08:00

The baby and my belly just keep getting bigger and bigger :)

The First Ultrasound

2011-02-03T19:35:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of our beautiful baby BOY :)

Chad and I are so happy. It was such an amazing experience to see him moving around and to know that he is healthy!

P.S. Yes, my belly has gotten much bigger since my last post. I have outgrown most, if not all, of my normal clothes. Thank you so much Jessica and Kathy for letting me borrow some maternity clothes!!

Little Baby Belly

2011-01-08T16:27:00.000-08:00

My baby bump is starting to show!! :)

Christmas

2010-12-29T10:40:00.000-08:00

So we did really bad about documenting our Christmas :( Sorry. Most of what we did get on camera was on the camcorder, and one of the gifts I gave to Chad was a video editing program and he's having fun working on all that. So for now, you will just have to trust me that we had a fun and festive Christmas :)

Chad gave me an amazing set of pots and pans that I desperately needed. I also got a really great blender from mom and dad! Needless to say, we are going to be eating well :)

We did have fun celebrating on our own, but we also missed the family very much. We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T20:43:00.000-08:00

So I know that Christmas Eve is a little late to be decorating a Gingerbread house, but I wanted to bad enough and so we worked it into our plans for today.

We have decided to start our own little family tradition of planning, building, and decorating a different, fun, and big gingerbread house every year together.

So we drew up our plans over breakfast...

Chad quickly made the house out of plywood...

and we started to get our decorating on!!

We realized that a house this big was going to take a lot of grahmcrackers, candy, and willing hands to make this wooden house look like a true gingerbread house. So we recruited our neices and nephews!

This is what the house looked like before inviting them over.

First, Laine and Cannon came together.

We made a Christmas tree for the porch.

Cannon worked on decorating the columns.

Laine (with a mouthful of gum) was proud of her patterns that she made on one of the windows.

Then Sommer came over and worked on the other window...

and Ridge did an overhang on the front of the house, and left his mark on one side of the house :) haha, I asked him to make a mischevious Grinchy face-- PERFECT!

In the end we were both proud of our crazy project and had a lot of fun doing it!

P.S. Chad gave me the coolest footsie pajamas!! Haha, dream come true!!

It's been a while...

2010-11-30T21:14:00.000-08:00

I know that I have been bad about posting on the blog lately... sorry. But here's a bit of an update:

MY BIRTHDAY was wonderful. Chad spoiled me and got me flowers, perfume and lotion, a new pillow (for those of you that don't know, I'm that person that needs 3 pillows to sleep with and they all need to be just right), and a new camcorder!! We have used it some, but I haven't tried to figure out how to download the videos onto the computer. Also... I'm not yet used to the whole being-recorded-on-video thing, I get all stiff and awkward. Hopefully with time I'll get used to it! :)

THANKSGIVING was not what we had planned. Our trip to Spokane to meet up with family was cancelled because of the weather and road conditions. Although our plans fell through, we had a lot of fun with Paige, Eric and the kids playing in the snow, seeing a movie, and going to a buffet for dinner! Haha, it wasn't the traditional Thanksgiving that I'm used to, but I had so much fun.

Here is a couple of Paige's photos from Thanksgiving:

I helped Laine decorate our snowlady
I'm not sure why they didn't tell us they were taking a picture... oh well :) appearently we were too hungry to pay attention.

One other reason Thanksgiving was so much fun was because Chad couldn't work all week and school was cancelled, so we got a week of vacation together!!

One of the highlights of the week was our Christmas decorating.

We upgraded from last times mini Christmas tree to a FULL SIZED ONE!! -- yes, we had to remove some furniture to fit the tree in our place :) but it's totally worth it!

I was excited to have a tall tree, but we didn't realize that our star wouldn't fit on top, so we improvised.

I tried to be really nice and not so picky when it came to the decorations on the tree this year. Last time I kind of took over and most of the things Chad did... I fixed?...
BUT NOT THIS YEAR! We had fun decorating it together and I have only moved one of the ornaments that Chad put on!

Happy Holidays everyone!!

Halloween Party

2010-10-31T18:47:00.000-07:00

So I didn't get any pictures of us celebrating Halloween this year, but we went to a fun party and they put a slideshow of some pictures up on YouTube.

Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT-DRItkAqU, it's titled "Halloween Photobooth 2010"

Happy Halloween!!

Date Night

2010-10-29T11:06:00.001-07:00

I wanted to take Chad on a fun date, so I took him to a hockey game.

The entire arena was this mirror type metal, and for some reason Chad really had fun taking pictures of us like we were in some kind of fun-house :)

I had never been to a hockey game before so I was happy to find this Hockey 101 pamphlet.

Seriously, the game was crazy, I loved it!

Oh yeah, and in case you didn't notice- Chad cut his hair :) YAY!

Rachel came to town!

2010-10-29T10:23:00.000-07:00

Rachel came to visit me!!!

And I made sure that we took pictures! Haha

We went to the art museum down town- they were doing an exhibit of Picasso!

One of my favorite parts of the trip was going to the outdoor sculpture exhibit. I'd never been and it's pretty awesome!

So... this wall said "GROVE" ... and that's exactly what I am doing. Don't be jealous ;)

Chad did hang out with us for a night. One of the things we did that night was go to an arcade for a bit, and yes- I still kick Chad's butt in basketball (as long as we're just playing a game that only involves shooting the ball and no other aspects of the game!)

Rachel and I also went to Vancouver Canada. Rachel has ALWAYS wanted to go to Canada, so most of the pictures that I took were on her camera of her... so I don't really have any pictures, but we did go to Canada!

I had lots of fun. I love every chance I get to show my friends and family around this city that I have grown to love!

2010-09-11T15:55:00.000-07:00

A little rain wasn't going to keep us from having a little adventure over Labor Day weekend!

There were a few rocks that we had to navigate to get to the beach :) Haha, I'm actually the only one that ended up slipping and falling...

There were so many crabs! Most were really small, but 90% of the rocks I turned over had a ton of crabs underneath them. Haha, I think I had a bit too much fun just turning rock after rock over and watching them scurry around for cover! :)

There were a bunch of the beautiful bright purple starfish that I've seen a few times at different beaches up here.

So I got sick of taking pictures and handed Chad the camera so that I might actually be in some of them too... and this is what I get?... seriously?... well I guess I did spend a lot of time just walking around and kicking over rocks to watch the crabs, but really Chad, we're going to have to work on this whole picture taking thing.

We also played paddle ball and threw the frisbee around.

Although it wasn't ideal weather for a trip to the beach, it was a lot of fun. We love love LOVE spending time with Paige, Eric and their kids!

Before and After

2010-08-13T23:56:00.000-07:00

So I know that this is kind of lame... but I feel that I've worked hard enough to be able to celebrate my accomplishment!!

BEFORE: AFTER:

It has taken a while to get here, but I am finally back to feeling and looking like myself again!
I lost a total of 50 lbs -- which surpassed my goal -- and now I am trying to gain about 10 lbs back in muscle.

I feel so much better now, it was definitely worth all of the hard work!!!

Blaser Cabin 2010

2010-08-13T09:53:00.000-07:00

Chad was able to drive his truck to the Cabin for the first time.

We got there and got right to work! Chad helped put two more windows in and I painted the trim once they finished.

Chad and Todd went out on a ride together.

It's official, we're adults!! We cooked and cleaned, man- we're so grown up!

Chopping fire wood

Roasting some s'mores, and more importantly: starbursts, on the fire.

Singin' some songs around the camp fire.

It was a short, but great trip to the cabin!

Last one, I promise!!

2010-07-28T14:36:00.000-07:00

Just a few pictures of around the town Puriscal where I stayed with the Holladays...

Haha, I love this picture! One of the first things I did when we got to the house was to go out in their back yard, climbed a tree and picked a mango to eat. As you can see I was a little excited ;)

But seriously, how awesome is that?!!?

This was a crocodile right off the side of a road.

In the center of town they have this really large and old Catholic Church that has been condemned for years (after a large earthquake), but they don't want to tear it down so it just sits there- old, and broken, but beautiful.

THE BEST ICEE I'VE EVER HAD!!!!!!!!

Alright, that's really it. I won't waste any more of my time- or yours- by blogging any more about my trip to Costa Rica. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Thank you to the Holladays for taking me in and planning the whole thing, and thank you to my wonderful husband who let me go!

... and had flowers waiting for me when I got home :) I am a lucky lucky girl.

The beach on the Caribbean Coast

2010-07-28T14:24:00.001-07:00

Oh yeah... I forgot to mention that we went to the beach on the Caribbean side too.

This huge iguana was just walking around...

This beach was beautiful, no monkeys, but beautiful.

We came back here one of the nights to see the giant sea turtles. They were so many of them and they were HUGE!! They wouldn't let us bring cameras, but we were able to walk along the beach among them and see them come in, dig their holes, lay their eggs, cover their nests back up and head out to sea again. It was amazing, something I'll never forget!

The Caribbean Coast

2010-07-28T13:13:00.001-07:00

On my third day we took a little vacation within a vacation over to the Caribbean side of the country.

We were picked up by a shuttle van that took us to our bus. As you can see we started off the trip with lots of energy...

...and although the scenic country side was cute...

... we both zonked out for an hour or so. The upsetting part was that when I woke up we were in the thick of the rain forest and I had missed the only Jaguar that we saw the whole time! How do you not wake someone up when there is a live Jaguar, in the wild, right outside your window? -- once again, I will never forgive you Hannah!!! ;)

We stopped to see a couple of sloths that were along side the road. They literally did not move a muscle!

This one was covered in moss... gross.

This is me imitating the sloth. I make a good sloth don't you think? I think that mom and dad have both referred to me as such a creature a few times in my lifetime :)

We also stopped to have lunch and go through a butterfly house. It was filled with these beautiful and ridiculously bright blue butterflies!

Although there were so many of them, they were really difficult to get photos of. Hannah tried to get one with me and the butterflies but she just got a shot of me flinching right after one ran into me.

After our break we had much more energy... maybe too much?

We then went from the bus onto a boat. Yes, count them, that's 3 modes of transportation just to get to one place.

I look a bit frightened or excited... I think I was a bit of both. The area that we were going to was such dense rain forest that they didn't have roads but just used boats through the canals and rivers as their main mode of transportation.

We finally made it to our resort and it was BEAUTIFUL!

Yay for hammocks!

The area that we were staying at was called Tourtugero. It is named after and famous for the turtles there.

This was our room. So cute!

The first thing Rachel did when we got into our room.

This is where they fed us mostly traditional local food (nothing crazy really... a lot of rice and beans, mean and lots of fruit!) The best part was the different freshly squeezed fruit juices with every meal.

When we couldn't be at the beach we had fun in the pool.

This fell off of one of the trees and I turned it into a warrior strap!!

It worked too! That night I caught my first cockroach! It was really difficult too, that bugger was fast!

Right outside our window we had toucans in the tree! This rainbow one was HUGE.

This one was smaller, but still beautiful. They were eating water apples.

We also caught a snapping turtle.

Of course we played some cards.

Haha, I love this picture because we were talking about the mosquito bites that we had gotten. Hannah got 21, Rachel had about 10, and I had NONE. Hence my smile :)

We took a lot of boat tours to see the area and most of the animals in the area.

This is one of those lizards that run on water. We actually got to see it and it was AMAZING!! I couldn't get a picture though, it was too fast.

This is another picture of the same type of lizard, but it is a full grown adult male. When they are adults they don't run across the water as much, but still can if there is a predator.

These birds would choose a tree and build all of their nests together in the same tree... it was a very noisy tree.

We saw a lot of different kinds of storks, this was the largest.

Green Parrot.

We saw a few spider monkeys, they were so much fun to watch!

I think this was another stork. He was making a really weird sound, I would've never guessed it was a bird if I couldn't see him.

We also saw some bats. Hannah thought they were ugly and scary, I thought they were cute!

In one of the villages we saw a snake that I've seen on science shows many times, the yellow viper snake. It was crazy to see it just hanging out on the outskirts of one of the villages where PEOPLE live, seeing as it is an extremely poisonous and lethal snake.

We saw baby iguanas.

And last, but not least, these where our alarm clocks- Howler monkeys. Every morning at 5am I woke up to what sounded like crazy gorillas surrounding our room! Haha, they were sooo loud it was almost scary!

The End.

Monkeys at the Beach

2010-07-28T12:45:00.000-07:00

On my second day there we went to a beach on the Pacific side of the country called Manuel Antonio.

It was beautiful!!

What made this beach so special? THE MONKEYS!!-- that's right, there were monkeys all along the beach.

They only let a certain number of people on the beach at a time... so we sat and waited... and made stars with our fingers?...

The important part in this picture is my bracelets I got them for $3 and I love them. The majority of my souvenirs from Costa Rica was jewelry :)

To get to the beach we had a little hike through the rain forest and we saw a few animals on our way including...

Lizards...

Snakes...

Neon red/orange Crabs...

and MONKEYS!!

They had the cutest faces!!

So it was hard to get mad at them when they stole your food ;)

Mommy and her baby.

I wasn't very sneaky... this is about as close as they would get to the people on the beach.

There were so many hermit crabs. A lot of them were so pretty too because they would be in brightly colored tropical sea shells. I didn't get a picture of any of those- because this one pinched me- and after that I decided to not pick any more up.

We also turned me into a mermaid.

Such a fun day at the beach!

My first day in Costa Rica

2010-07-28T12:36:00.000-07:00

So I have a lot of pictures from my trip to Costa Rica and in an attempt to not bore you all too much, I've decided to break them up into a few separate posts.

For those of you that don't know- I was able to go to Costa Rica with one of my best friends to visit her family that has been living there for the past year.

After picking us up from the airport we went directly to hike up one of their many Volcanoes.

It was crazy how close they let you get to the crater considering it is still an "active" volcano.

The hike up was gorgeous.

The leaves were HUGE!

There was this beautiful lake on the other side of the mountain too. Over all- besides the smell and burning sensation in my lungs from the sulfur- I really enjoyed my first volcano adventure :)

Chad's Birthday!!

2010-06-30T10:35:00.000-07:00

CHAD IS 25!!!

Chad's major gift was one that multiple family members contributed to which was his hiking backback!

He was so excited to get this gift and he's already got a few trails that he plans on exploring while I'm on my vacation. Thank you everyone who pitched in- he really REALLY loved this gift!

I also wanted to get him a little something on my own. I've heard him mention how cool it is when artists can play the harmonica while singing and playing the guitar and how he wishes he could do that... and now he can :)

He also has a folder of all of his songs (there's about 100 of them) and it was falling apart and completely disorganized, so I got him a new folder and organized all of it for him. He was completely suprised and has already written another song incorperating his new harmonica!

I also planned a trip to Victoria BC over his birthday weekend!!

We went whale watching, and it was AMAZING!!! It was really difficult to get any pictures of the whales because my camera is so old and has a delay when taking photos. We found a family of Orca whales and saw a lot of them but they would come up and go back down so quickly that I didn't get very good pictures :(

This was one of the larger males- you can tell because the fin is taller and straighter- I just missed him jumping out of the water toward us.

This was one of the females.

There are a few families of Orcas that stay and live in this area (around the San Juan Islands), and they stay pretty close to the coasts to catch the salmon. Now I can't stop daydreaming about living in one of those houses on the San Juan Islands!! Haha, wouldn't that be amazing to wake up, look out your window and just sit and watch the orca whales?!

I realized at the very end of our boat ride that taking a video might work better than pictures. The first whale that you see is the baby who was sooooo cute! He had so much energy and he just kept jumping around. The second whale is one of the males doing barel rolls.

We also saw some seals on the coast of one of the islands. It was so amazing to see all of these animals in their natural environment! I just wish I could've gotten some better pictures.

We had taken a boat up to Victoria so we didn't have a car to get around Victoria. Solution? SCOOTERS!!!

Haha, Yes- I am wearing socks with my sandals. I know, I know, but desperate times call for desperate measures and my feet were cold!! I love this picture- I look so awkward :)

We decided that it was probably best that Chad drove. We drove all around the city and took the backroads to the famous Butchart Gardens... which were WAY too expensive to actually go through, but we got to see a bit of them as we drove around them and the sceanery on the way there was BEAUTIFUL!

I was so bad about taking pictures while going around the city, I honestly just got swept up in how much fun we were having. But on our way back I got a picture of one of the crazy big castle hotels. SO PRETTY!

We had Chad's Birthday diner at this really cool Jazz resturaunt. The food was increadiably unique and delicious, and it was the coolest enviroment with amazing art and live music.

Happy Birthday Chad! I love you so much.

This weekend was so much fun celibrating together. My life with you is amazing!

THE TRAPEZE!!

2010-06-21T20:38:00.000-07:00

So I wanted to plan a really fun date and... I TOTALLY SUCCEEDED!!

I took Chad to go on a flying trapeze, and he was a bit skeptical, but he really enjoyed himself and we are definitely going to go again!

The only problem was that I didn't check my camera's batteries before we got there, so we couldn't get any pictures-- BUT I did get a little video of Chad doing one of the tricks we learned.

FRIENDS!!!

2010-06-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

We had friends come to visit us!! Yay for friends!

On their first day here I took work off and showed them around some of my favorite areas. I took them to the University district where we saw some interesting characters, little shops, and Jerusha and I had fun in the vintage shops.

This is us when I got us lost for the first time... wasn't the last... :)

We went to gas works park and Jerusha and I had waaaay too much fun frolicking through the fields with our umbrellas! :)

Haha, so this video has no sound... but the beginning is pretty funny. It gives you a feel of what Mark had to go through with Jerusha and mine's level of energy at this park ;)

"Frolic Jerusha!! FROLIC!!"

They wanted to see the University (of Washington-- only 1 more year and that's where I'll be!!!)

It is such a pretty campus. We had fun walking around pretending as if we were students.

Haha, I love this picture. Mark wanted Jerusha and I to sit at the fountain and act as if we were having a serious, heated, academic debate... and apparently that's the face I make when I'm trying to make a point? ... :)

This is a horrible picture of me, but it gives you a feel of what their study hall and Library is like. Its AMAZING!!!

Like I said-- One more year and I'll really be sitting there studying my brains out!!!

We did some late night bowling once Chad was finally done with work.

It was so much fun just to have them come up and hang out with us.

Vancouver Bridges

2010-06-16T09:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I couldn't get all of the photos on the last post- These are still from our girls trip to Vancouver...

They had this crazy suspention brigde-- this picture's don't do it justice-- it was CRAZY high!!

Yes- that is genine fear in my face.

But I overcame my fears and made it all the way across the bridge! Tada!

Oh yeah, and we tried passion fruit-- it was not all I had expected.

... and a picture from these beautiful gardens in the Chinatown area.

O CANADA!!

2010-06-16T08:45:00.000-07:00

While our friends were up here we were supposed to spend the weekend in Vancouver, but Mark forgot his passport so Jerusha and I made it a day trip :)

I got to use my passport for the first time EVER!!! - I really was excited but they didn't even give me a stamp :(

Their "space needle" was so not even close to as cool as ours.

Haha, Jerusha and I had a lot of fun in their China town. After taking this photo the little store woman came up and explained to us that a fan as big as this is just a decoration, and then gave us a lesson on how to actually use the smaller fans.

This is where the Olympic flame was.

I loved this statue- It made me look twice when I saw it in the distance, haha, I thought my vision was going bad or something!

Kayakin' in the rain anyone?

2010-06-16T08:28:00.000-07:00

Yes- you heard right we went kayaking- and it was sooooooo fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They put us in wet suits which made the whole experience even more memorable and they really did their job- I wasn't cold at all.

Jerusha and I got kayaks and the boys got paddle boards.

This is my extreme Kayaking face :)

And - oh yes - we switched so that the girls could have a try at the paddle boards and by far, I was the best. Chad spent the rest of the time trying to knock me into the water because I was the only one who didn't fall in on my own. :)

This was so much fun Chad and I will definitely be doing it again.

Here is a REALLY poor video... sorry everyone... but I tried to take one while kayaking.

Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, PLEASE SHINE DOWN ON ME!!

2010-05-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

Yay for sunny days! Yay for BBQs!! :)

... that is all.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T23:22:00.000-07:00

So recently I have been given a hard time about my lack of bloging, but here's the thing: I get up, work out, go to school, go to work, get home at around 7 and have a few hours to get homework done...

So I have joked around about having Chad take a picture of me doing my homework to post it, and when I spoke to mom today she said that even that would do as long as I posted something for mothers day.

There you go mom :) this is usually what you will find me doing these days. Making this face while sitting at my desk ;)

...

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!

Mom, it's your lucky day because today I took the day off from homework and got my wonderful sister in law to take a few pictures to document Chad and I doing something other than work and school.

This is for you mom. I miss you, Happy Mothers Day!

Cannon, Ridge, Chad and I played some baseball today and I think after seeing me fool around with the baseball bat Cannon was a little worried to be on my team! haha

So he gave me some pointers :) Just look at that form!! haha We totally won.

We also got to have a fun BBQ with Paige, Eric and the kids.

Happy Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-03T19:23:00.000-07:00

With some help from Jessica, Chad and I actually sort of celebrated Easter this year! I feel like the holiday of Easter is mostly a children's holiday and last year we just didn't celebrate it, but I wanted to this year and Jessica helped me come up with this silly way for us to do just that.

We got 6 plastic eggs and filled them with some of our favorite candies, and asked our nieces and nephews to hide them. The first to find their 3 eggs won the privilege of choosing where we ate and the movie we watched-- which doesn't sound like much, but here's what made it so desirable-- the looser could not complain, not one bit.

Once the kids were done hiding the eggs we came inside and before I knew what was happening, I turned around and Chad was already starting to look! Haha, I guess he knew that if he didn't win this little game, he had no chance of seeing the "Clash of the Titans" in theater-- I think that movie looks ridiculous.

The race was on!!

Thanks to the many years of training that my dad gave me through hiding my basket so tough ever Easter... I won. No, no no, I didn't just win, I CONQUERED! :)

We had a fun date that night and Chad was a good sport. We drove about 30 minutes to this place that was close to where I worked a couple of years ago, and got some soup that I've been craving for MONTHS. The movie that I wanted to watch wasn't in the redbox though, and he said that I can still keep my "one movie of my choice without complaint" and I'll put it to good use later.

Thanks for letting us rampage your house Paige and Eric!

Thanks for hiding the eggs kids, they were seriously difficult to find!

... and thanks to Sommer who helped me find one of my eggs :) hehehe shhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Camping in February?...

2010-02-28T19:32:00.000-08:00

Yes, Chad and I went Camping this weekend… in FEBRUARY. We had a rough week and on Thursday night we decided to do something spontaneous and just go somewhere! So we decided to go to camping with our new sleeping bags that we had gotten for Christmas. We were going to borrow Eric’s tent, but when we went to the storage place after work, it had already closed… but we couldn’t let that stop us, so we bought our own tent!! Woo hoo! And off we went at 6pm Friday night… on what was supposed to be a 5ish hour trip to a campsite that we’ve never been to…

We made it … at around midnight, we really couldn’t see the campsite and we were the only ones there. There wasn’t really much else to do so we set up our tent, for the first time, in the wind and rain by the light of our car. Haha, it was definitely a “WHAT WERE WE THINKING?!” but at the same time it was so ridiculous it was pretty funny- definitely a moment I’ll remember for a long while.

**Chad was not aware that this picture was being taken, but it's the only one I have of us with our tent...**

After waking up we got the first look at where we were camping and it was beautiful!! On one side there were beautiful mountains covered with soooo many trees and there was still some morning fog settling in around them, and on the other side – not even 100 ft away was the beach, THE PACIFIC OCEAN!! I had known it was close because we could hear it as we fell asleep, but it was literally right behind us!

I decided to try and climb some logs that were stuck in the sand. Haha, it didn't go as well as I had planned.

Ha ha, yeah, we had fun acting like overgrown children :)

This is the way to explore the Northwestern Coast of America-- Rain Boots!

We had do go into town to get some batteries for the camera (this was a very small town, we were actually on an Indian Reservation) and this is when we found out about the Title Wave warning --I guess the whole Pacific Coast was put on warning because of the earthquake in Chile. We had seen signs about where to go if a Tsunami were to hit while driving around… and there we were camping on the beach!! We were advised to pack up our things and head up to higher ground and come back later in the afternoon.

We went and cleared out our campsite and off we went to higher ground!! After talking to some of the natives we found out that it wasn’t that big of a deal, and in fact many were planning on going to the beach just to watch it. So we decided to be brave and we set off on 2 separate hikes that both ended at the shore. Straight into the eye of the storm!!! HAha

After living up here for the last two years I've started to get used to all of the moss... but the moss that we saw up here was CRAZY looking! Seriously soooooo pretty!

This was so pretty. So so so so pretty! This is the very most Northwestern tip of the Continental United States and it was breath taking. The pictures don't do it justice.

There was the cutest looking lighthouse on that Island.

I REALLY wanted to be able to be able to see what was in these caves!!... but there was no way to get any closer.

WE SAW SEALS!!!!!!!!! REAL, WILD, SEALS!! Just living in their natural habitat!! Oh my goodness it was sooooo exciting! I think I was a little to excited, and by the time I pulled out the camera and tried to get a picture, they were gone. I think my squeals might have scared them away...

No pictures of the seals :(

We also almost had trees fall on us! (I know, how adventurous are we?) At first I thought that it was a woodpecker, you could hear the cracking sounds and once we got closer you could see that it was a tree that was slowly falling down. You can see Chad pointing at the tree that was starting to fall, but you also see behind him a tree that already fell!!! Kinda scary!

I am the Queen of the Northwest!!

HIKE #1 was a huge success, I was sure I'd be disappointed after how beautiful the first hike was...

but as you can see... that was not the case. The entire hike was so beautiful!

Throughout a lot of the hike the trail was very wet and I was so glad I brought my rain boots! It was actually pretty fun for me, I don't think I have ever splashed through such huge muddy puddles in my life!! -- But Chad didn't get the memo about bringing his boots, and you'll see later on what happened to his shoes.

We found a frog.

Getting to the end of the hike meant climbing down this pretty steep incline- Chad called it a hill, I call it a cliff!

It was a much longer and more difficult hike, and once we finally got down to Sea Level there was this VERY discrete toilet behind a small sheet of wood. We both got a pretty good laugh out of it :)

The shore was gorgeous!! There were all of these rocks and small islands out in the ocean... and the waves were comin' in!!

Some of the drift wood was BRIGHT RED!

Chad's shoes were drenched and muddy so he decided to go barefoot and wash his feet off. These pictures make it look colder than it was, but I told Chad that he was crazy for running into the Pacific Ocean of the Northwest in February. He kept running in at the waves and trying to beat them back to where I was... he wasn't quite fast enough on his last attempt ;)

I saw this seagul and commented on how cute it was and how it wasn't afraid of us because it knew we couldn't get it. The next thing I know Chad was handing me his shoes and running up the rock. What can I say? My husband is a little crazy :)

These photos of the waves make them look non-existant, but they were there. They were LOUD, pretty big, and beautiful to see.... but no title wave.

After returning from the hike we stopped by the one general store and got Chad some flip flops- and yes, he picked them out himself :)

That's right, pigs in a blanket camping style! Yum Yum. Of course we also had 'smores, starburts, and pilsburry cinamon twists :)

Suprised to see me wielding a pocket knife?... me too :) We only had one of those metal sticks for cooking on the fire, and I was getting bored sharing it with Chad so I made my own! Chad kept offering to do it himself, but I did it without injury to either Chad or myself :)

We didn't have our GPS because we had let Paige and Eric use it for their roadtrip with the kids down to Utah... so we got a MAP!! That's right, old school style! Haha, and on the way home we had realized that we were pretty close to Forks, WA (home to the Twilight saga) and decided to make a detour on the way home!!!

I happened to have the Twilight soundtrak from the first movie in my car that Paige had given to me, and we listened to it as we drove down to Forks! Edward and Bella, here we come!!

True to what was said in the book, Forks is a very small town; a small town that has been taken over by this novel! There were seriously 4 Twighlight merchendise shops... and there were not very many shops in this town. It was crazy, they even have tours in the summer where they take you to the highschool, some house that they stage to be Bella's house and another for the Cullen's house, and then they take you to La Push.

Chad and I made our mark as members of the crazy Twilight fans that are dedicated enough to travel to Forks, WA. We signed the official book...

The only other thing that grabbed our attention while in Forks was this HUGE stump! Chad was awed by the massive piece of wook, but in the end he mostly felt sad that they cut down such an amazing tree and wishes he could see it standing. If you can't read the sign, it was 11' 8'' in diameter and was 256' tall! It says that it was 259 years old when it was chopped down in 1776, CRAZY!! I know there are larger trees in the Redwoods and such... but for up here, that's a freakishly big tree!

** Note the flip flops- yes Chad wore those everwhere. Even in Forks and Port Angeles on our way home. Yes, we got plenty of odd looks**

Here is us taking the Ferry home. It's probably best that we've got overcast most of the time up here, because as you can see- when it's clear skies we both have a hard time keeping our eyes open :)

This weekend was SOOOOO much fun and was so exciting!

It sounds stupid but I felt like a real adult doing things like: exploring placing with a map, camping with just Chad and I, buying our own tent/camping gear... haha, it really does sound rediculous writing them down in a list like that... but I just felt really close to Chad and like we could do anything together.

Winter Pictures

2009-12-27T22:15:00.000-08:00

So here are some of my favorite pictures of Chad and I from this years family pictures.

Hi! :)
Men and their facial hair...
So the lighting isn't the best... but it was a lot of fun taking these pictures and I think that makes me like them even more :)

Yay for family pictures!!

Very Serious.

The ladies.

Baby Derek is coming sooooon!!!

I always love taking family photos. This year was no exception.

December at the Blaser's

2009-12-08T20:15:00.000-08:00

When December 1st came around I found myself missing the advent calendar that my mom put up every year. It was always a highlight of my Christmas seasons and I think I speak for everyone when I say that it was sooo exciting no matter how old you were, when you were the one to get baby Jesus. :)

So, with no time left to really be creative and no money to spend on a nice advent calendar, I was left with two choices. Either purchase one of those cheap paper ones with all the little doors that have pieces of "chocolate" in them that taste like nasty plastic... or try to creative and make my own... that night.

So this is what I came up with. I got some chocolate that we will actually enjoy eating, and wrapped Christmas quotes around each of them. I got the quotes off of a website and since I didn't want to spoil this whole thing for me, I only scanned over them and I am hoping that we don't get any crazy weird quotes.
This is how it has developed over the last week or so. I'm oddly proud of my little creation :) -- and as a side note, all of the quotes have been very nice and have started our days on some very sweet notes :)

We also made our Gingerbread Houses!!

We used Chad's coveted grahm cracker with melted sugar technique.

I decided to rebuild the same Gingerbread House that I attempted last year (but if you all remember... that crumbled to the ground) -- So I took this picture before decorating it, JUST IN CASE I failed again, I needed a picture of a house that was standing ;)

We split up and both made our own messes. I took the desk and Chad took the counter.

The next thing I knew, I turned around and this is what I see.

Yes... this is a battle field. The army men with their gold and diamonds, and the animals are on the attack.

Needless to say, the boys were fans.

Chad let the kids come over and take pieces of his creation and handed out some extra candy that he had.

Meanwhile-- I was still working on decorating my cottage.

A bit latter I finished my creation as well- as you can see, it's a bit more traditional than Chad's.

Hope you all had as much fun decorating for Christmas/making gingerbread houses as we did!

Merry Christmas, and we'll see you all soon!!!

Angie's Bday

2009-11-17T19:55:00.000-08:00

I'M 22!!

Here's a small pile of some of my gifts. Thank you everyone for your thoughtfulness!

I loved my little puppy cupcake!

I absolutely LOVE Chad's gift that he got me!! He got me a book that I've been wanting, but waiting until it was available in paperback. He also got me some art supplies!!! I've been really wanting to get back into my art and I thought that was the perfect gift and just what I need right now. (He also remembered the type of oil pencils I had when we were dating) :)
We ended my birthday celebration next door. Once again, it's soooo nice to have these guys so close!

FHE

2009-11-17T09:56:00.000-08:00

Chad and I haven't been the best at doing an FHE once a week, so when I came home on this particular Monday (a few weeks ago) I was surprised when Chad had us sit down and he had a whole lesson planned with a song picked out to sing and everything. I was even more surprised when he pulled out the supplies for the activity that he wanted to do.

Haha, I think you can get the gist of it from the pictures, but the reasoning behind it is the cute part. The day before this I got really sad and missed my family. It was cold and dark and all I wanted in the world was to be at Mom and Dad's house next to the fireplace playing a game with my family.
So we made our own fireplace, played Scrabble (which was a BIG sacrifice for Chad to have to sit through) and for the treat we made smores :) Best Family Home Evening EVER.

Chad's Surgery

2009-10-20T20:31:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to let you all know that Chad's surgery went fine. All of the nurses just kept saying that he did so well, and Chad (still a bit drozy and out if it) kept replying by saying how hard he tried. I think the after affects of the anesthesia just made him very tired and his humor a little odd, but mostly he was himself. I was a bit disappointed because I thought he was going to be all loony, but he wasn't and therefore I have no funny stories about the postop.

I'm so happy to have a healthy husband, and that we had the insurance coverage to be able to get the operation, and Chad, taken care of. He will still be in a lot of pain for the next couple of weeks, so your thoughts and prayers are still appreciated.

We love you all!

The Aurora Bridge Troll

2009-10-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

Chad and I have heard about this Troll under the Aurora Bridge but still hadn't seen it since we moved up here... so we decided to go on a little adventure. I wanted to look online to see where this was (because Aurora Avenue is a long, main road in Seattle and has many bridges) but Chad just wanted to go and find it, and it was actually pretty fun checking under all of these bridges.

Bridge #1: No troll.

Bridge #2: As you can see, no troll but a nice bit of artwork.

Bridge #3: We started to get excited when as we were coming down the pedestrian walkway we saw a few people standing around with cameras :)

Meet Seattle's Troll.

We had a lot of fun finding the Troll, and then climbing all over him.

The end of summer 2009

2009-10-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

This is a bit late to be posting these but I guess later is better than never!

We'd been wanting to go camping just us two all summer but never got the chance... or I guess we just never put the thought or effort into it before it was too late. So when the neighboring Blasers went to California Chad asked if we could sleep out on the trampoline and said that it could kind of make up for the lack of camping. I said ok (trying to be brave but I was a little terrified of the idea). We watched a movie and I started to feel more comfortable, but Chad was the one who wanted to head inside. Did you all catch that? CHAD was the one that asked ME if we could go inside. That's right. I'm extremely brave/reckless :)

... I'm sure Chad would want me to tell you all that it was because of mosquitoes and not because he was scared.

That weekend we proceeded to act like children. We had to drop by a drug store to get some allergy medicine and saw this paddle ball game on sale so we got it and it was GAME ON! We put our swimsuits on to try and soak up any last bits of sun that we could for the summer (before the 9 months were the sun goes into hiding). It was so much fun... I wish I could've gotten a picture of us both playing... but it's a bit difficult when it's just the two of us. Chad also refused to be photographed.

We also got this little Fun Ferret. We had seen a demonstration of it (or one like it) in the Malls last year for Christmas time and hoped that we could maybe have some fun with it and our nieces and nephews. It turned out to be REALLY lame. :(

Some fun with Heather

2009-08-30T22:40:00.000-07:00

So I haven't been in Utah for even 2 whole days and Heather and I have already managed to spend some seriously quality time taking some amazing photos :) Haha, I'm not sure if anyone will really understand most of them... but I love them. Kehe, we had fun.

... Happy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!

2009-08-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

To my mother dearest...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Haha, these are some of my favorite pictures of mom and I. We took them with the original intent of teaching her how to keep her eyes open while being photographed... and then things got a little crazy :)

I love you mom. I hope you realize just what a wonderful mother you are. You are truly a blessing to everyone around you. You have taught me so much and I could never fully express just how much you mean to me. I love you, and I miss you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY -- and I'll see you soon :)

Cut it off. Cut it all off.

2009-07-18T20:56:00.000-07:00

I got my hair cut (and lightened)!!! :) and I looooove it!

My daily hike... to school

2009-05-18T09:01:00.001-07:00

I've had conversations with friends and family on the phone while walking to and from school and tried to explain how I really do have a little hike/nature walk on my way to school every morning. So I decided to take some pictures to help you all get a better idea.

This is the parking lot. My school us up above that tall thick line of trees.

I've seen raccoons, squirrels and even woodpeckers while walking through these forests.

I'm not sure I took the best pictures to really show you how beautiful it is... but it's hard when you've got fellow students walking around looking at you like you're crazy and maybe even thinking that you're taking pictures of them.

Break dancing on the trampoline

2009-05-17T17:52:00.000-07:00

I think these pictures are all pretty great :)

The best thing about these next 3 photos is that the kids totally look like they're break dancing when I'm not even sure they know what break dancing is :)

So Cute!

Elvis is in the building!!

2009-05-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

Our ward had a sock hop... and needed an Elvis...

Guess who volunteered?

It was so much fun finding the costume! Then while I was attempting to put together some kind of retro look with the clothing I had, Chad was trying to prepare for his performance... which meant I had Elvis singing and dancing around the house like a mad man :)

He sang Blue Suede Shoes and did REALLY well. Totally got into character and sounded great.

There was a lot of fun dancing, but I didn't get very many good pictures because it was too dark. Here's one of the only pictures I could find of Sommer smiling, seeing Chad as Elvis TOTALLY freaked her out.

I totally dominated at Limbo ;)

Such a fun crazy night!! I love that I'm married to that one crazy man that'll actually dress up like and impersonate Elvis for the Church Sock Hop!

Trampoline Time

2009-03-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning we woke up to HUGE snowflakes falling from the sky... and by the time we got home from church the skies were blue and although it was a bit chilly, it was a gorgeous spring day. So that called for some trampoline time!

Cannon is a "break the egg" PRO! I didn't get too many good shots of how high this boy was being bounced but I'm officially declaring him to be the champion!

Laine is just too cute! All serene, posing for the picture while tickle torture is being executed in the background :)

Canon is not jumping like a horse in this shot... he's really just holding on to the edge of the trampoline for dear life!!

We took turns doing tricks in the air while I tried to take some photos and Laine insisted that Chad whispered "very quietly" in her ear what trick she should do.

It may look like Chad is being attacked by the children in this photo (especially by the look on his face as its getting smashed into the trampoline...) but really this is a dog pile on top of Cannon. Yup... he's under there somewhere!

Boys? Fighting?... Never.

Chad's trick.

Haha, this picture is awesome! It looks like he's a torpedo heading straight for the trampoline!!

We love being able to hang out with our wonderful family next door. It's always a treat :)

Time to go to school

2009-03-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

For all of you who haven't heard...

I'M GOING BACK TO SCHOOL!!!!!!!!
I'm so excited I could write a long boring post about it... but I'll try to keep it brief :)

I've quit my job.
I got a job 2 days after leaving my last at a wonderful Childcare center with the perfect work schedule for me.
I'm going to a community college for a few semesters to finish a few more prerequisites and then transferring to the UW to major in Biology and minor in MARINE BIOLOGY!!!

It's been such a wonderful blessing and life lesson to see that when you truly put your life in the hands of the Lord and do all that you can, he will watch over and provide for you. I'm so grateful for all of the blessings I have in my wonderful life! Everything is just falling into place.

My wonderful mother-in law sent me this card to congratulate me on my decision, and on the day of my resignation as a Chiropractic Assistant Paige, Laine and Sommer brought me this boquet of flowers to wish me a happy QUITTING WORK DAY!! :) It was so sweet. My parents have also just been a HUGE help talking me through everything and supporting me every step of the way.

Thank you for all your support guys!

HE CUT HIS HAIR!!

2009-03-15T13:27:00.000-07:00

Chad left for school Friday night with hair longer than mine...

and came home like this!!

(mind you he didn't tell me and I freaked out when this stranger walked into my home!)
So we decided to pose as models and take some oh so sexy pictures of our new hairdos.

ha ha we are sooooo awesome :)

Long hair? Short hair? Dark hair? Light hair?

2009-02-28T21:45:00.000-08:00

So we all know that once I spend years growing out my hair I can't last more than 2 months with it at a length that would be considered long.
I got that oh so familiar yearning to chop off my hair and do something crazy with it about a month ago. I went to this reeeaaally nice salon downtown called Seven. (**Jessica wanted me to take pictures because I told her it would be a nice place, and I even brought my camera... but this place was too nice. If you want to see what I mean just visit their website.)

I took a before picture... and I didn't do a very good job. I should have worn no make up and not done my hair so well... that way the reveal of my new hairdo would be more dramatic and obviously positive...
** just for the record, my did not always look this nice while it was long, it was usual "o-natural curly/wavy" or in a ponytail. I just had to have fun with doing it one last Saturday morning.

And here is my new look:

I posted this second one because I thought it showed the actual haircut/color better-- even though it's a bit blurry.

So... what do you think?

Chad's performance

2009-02-28T21:35:00.000-08:00

We had a ward music night and Chad played guitar and sang. He dedicated the song to me (it was our song) and I was so twiterpated, I forgot to take his picture while he was actually on stage.

He did a wonderful job and didn't sing like he was nervous at all! He was saying that he didn't want to go earlier that day because he was nervous and didn't want to sound stupid-- but something came over him, and honestly it felt like he was just singing to me... :) sounds kinda weird, but that's really how it felt. Everything else just faded away.

I love you Chad.

1 Year

2009-02-20T14:38:00.000-08:00

So… I know you are all going to be unhappy with me, but we have no pictures of the anniversary/valentines day… :(

But it’s not my fault! Chad had the day planned and forgot to bring the camera like I has asked him to.

But for those of you who are still interested in knowing what we did:

I started the day off by… going to work. Haha- not as bad as it sounds because I went to a huge Track meet at UW which was a lot of fun. There were SO MANY incredibly talented athletes and I have to say BYU was represented well.

Chad then picked me up and we went down town. Saw a movie in the big theater that we had wanted to check out, explored some shopping centers we hadn’t been to yet, and got some dinner. We then went to see The Lion King. That’s right- THE LION KING! Not that silly cartoon (which is nice…) but the Broadway Show! I’ve always wanted to see it, and it definitely didn’t disappoint. The storyline is the exact same as the movie—but the costumes, and the props, and the singing… and the COSTUMES!! Oh my goodness it was just amazing.

So the Lion King tickets where a gift to me from Chad and I thought that was it until I woke up the next morning to find an adorable arrangement of mini daffodils along with a very sweet card waiting for me on our kitchen table.

It was a wonderful weekend and it’s been such a crazy but wonderful year! :) I’m so grateful that I found such a wonderful man.

I love you Chad!!

Christmas Vacation

2008-12-30T09:44:00.000-08:00

Being able to come back home to Utah for Christmas was such a blessing. We both had so much fun spending time with both families. We love you all so much and it was very hard for me to leave. I can't wait to see you all again.

Sadly- we relied on my dad to take pictures to document our visit (which he did- and did a great job) - but I didn't have the time to snatch them for my own use. So you'll have to look at the GLASSFORD FAMILY BLOG for the pictures of our Christmas vacation.