Us Lately

Wow. I hate when I get behind on my blogging, and this is why. I end up with tons of pictures and things to write about and I stay up all night working on it. We have been so busy lately I just haven't had any time to blog until now! Sorry for the lengthy post

PARK CITY

After Brittany and Joe went home, we had a few days to catch up on daily life before we went to Park City for a Kettle Family reunion. We love hanging out with all of Danny's sisters an their families, and we love spending time with all the little Kettle cousins! It is so fun to see them all grow up and change. They are all so cute and funny in their own ways. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the kids during the long weekend.

There were a bunch of really funny shots of the kids spinning like crazy on the tire swing. Their expressions were priceless! I wanted to post more, but decided to spare everyone. =)

This is our little Cody after he was running down the hill and wiped out. Side note: I taught him how to say "wipe out" this summer, only it sounds like "wip. ot." So funny. Codster was already in a foul mood because Missy put him in time out after he pushed JJ off the TOP of the slide! It was not good. He decided to sit in time out for probably 15 minutes before he was ready to say sorry! What a little stinker. =)
Max discovered that he loves watermelon. He just buried his face in that thing and sucked on it like mad. He got furious and squealed when he couldn't get a good suction on it. I have it on video and it is sooo funny. I wish I could figure out how to post videos on the blog! BTW, I hate using my small camera. After using the digital slr, it feels like I have zero control with that thing.

Anyway, Park City was a ball. We went swimming in the evenings and played outside and shopped during the day. I had an extra fun time taking Lillie to the pool one afternoon just the two of us while Missy watched Max. She is so funny! I have never seen a child inhale more pool water than Lil. She is a crack up. I can't believe she is in Kindergarten now! Every family was in charge of one meal. I of course was assigned to Sunday breakfast (breakfast is kinda my signature meal) and of course I made my ever popular crepes.

The Momma and the Poppa

Max and Nana. This picture made me laugh! This is Max's new cheesy smile that he does now. And apparently Nana is practicing her cheesy smile too. I love it!

My mom and dad flew in to town Saturday night to take Jordan back to BYU and switch dorms for fall. My dad got to stay until Wednesday and my mom stayed until this morning! I love, love, love, my parents and I always have so much fun when they come to visit. Our big project this week was picking out a paint color for my living room and kitchen. Unfortunately, I am as indecisive as I am perfectionistic. Not a good combination. My wall looks like a patchwork quilt, but I think we finally got it figured out (after about 7 samples of paint). I was torn between Restoration hardware's silver sage and Benjamin Moore turquoise mist. So i took in my gallons to Ace hardware and had them dump it all in a five gallon bucket and mix it all together. 4:1 ratio. I'm pretty sure all parties involved were ready to kill me (Mom, Dad, Danny, Ace Hardware paint guy). My mom and I also went antiquing and found some great vintage linens and I found an AMAZING antique dresser (depression era) at a yard sale for $25 buckaroos! I am sooo psyched. It is so charmingly shabby chic and the perfect size for my formal living room and has the most gorgeous hardware and I just love it. And for so cheap! I live for good deals. My mom also helped us get a handle on our flower beds and organized my kitchen cabinets. She even did our laundry. Gawl. She is seriously the best! Max totally loves her too. She is my very best friend.

PEACH DAYS

Danny and I used to live in Brigham City and we loooove peach days. This year we just had to go and take Max, and of course Nana, and Darren and Hadley! We also met up with the lovely Lindsey, on of my best pals since we were 11! She's the best. We spent 90% of the evening stuffing our faces with peach related dishes, which honestly is what the whole thing is all about in my book. Hadley won this little stuffed dog in the balloon dart game and she was so in love with it.

Celebrate America

Saturday night was the Celebrate America performance in Logan with Brenda and her family. it was this so cheesy song and dance performance to honor veterans, but the cast was actually amazing and I had a lot of respect for all the men and women in the crowd who served our country (many of them in WWII!). The story is, Brenda's whole family takes her 82-year-old grandfather to this thing every year and despite the fact that he has a hard time walking, he dances ALL NIGHT LONG. We had a blast! I got to do the two step with grandpa up on stage (yikes!) and Brenda was a dancin' fool. I saved Danny a few dances too. =)

Daa Bees.

At the Bees game!

Max and his bee toy meet THE bee.

Who is this guy?!

Not to be confused with daaaa bears. I guess one of the perks of working in real estate is that title companies hook you up with free stuff so they can get your business. Sweet! Or in our case, suite. We got to go to a SLC Bees (our minor league team) game and hang out in a suite with some title company people. There was also food. Free food, which in my book, is about as good as it gets. Danny insisted that Max get jazzed up in his Angels uniform since the Angels will ALWAYS be Max's team. We didn't even feel bad about it because the Bees are actually the farm team for the Angels (which I think just means they are affiliated- I'm not sure exactly how). Anyway, we were having a good ole time watching the ball game when all the sudden, THE bee walked in! Max thought he was a very interesting creature indeed, and fearlessly tried to eat his face. We think it's because THE bee reminded him of his own little rattley bee toy that he loves. THE bee spend extra time holding and playing on the floor with Max, and he told us that his own baby bee was born just three days after Max. How cute! It was a pretty fun night despite the heat, and we won (I'm pretty sure)! Hooray for free fun.

Noisy Boy

Max is talking so much these days. Whenever we are in the car or while he plays, all I hear is aaouuuuuaaa... it's so funny. While Brittany was here and we were out and about all day, Max sat making his noise in his stroller, then closed his eyes and kept making noise, then all the sudden the sound abruptly stopped. We looked at him and he had fallen asleep! He did this "talking himself to sleep" thing a few other times in the car too. It cracked us up every time!

A change of heart/ SuHo is born

So, here's the deal. All my out of state friends rip on Utah. In state friends, I'm sorry. I will admit, I used to give the beehive state a hard time too, but I have since changed my tune! I decided when we left Orange County that if I was going to live here, I would just have to find my niche and get comfy. Come to find out, attitude is everything. I am really loving Utah this time around. I love our neighborhood, I love our ward, I love seeing our old friends, and I have met some great new people too! One thing that has been really fun for me is exploring the city, and I have found some great places! Salt Lake has become a lot more diverse and sophisticated, and it the perfect size city- big enough to be big and still get around pretty easily. So I have decided to share a few of my favorite spots around town from now on, so that other people can see that Utah IS cool.

Abode
1700 S 900 E
SLC

http://www.abodepfm.com/

The most fabulous antique store around. Good prices, great stuff that translates from store to home perfectly. I absolutely love it! They have a very eclectic collection of retro/vintage/shabby chic finds. Everything from furniture to linens and everything in between. I went this week with Britt and Nicole and I wanted to take home almost everything in sight, but I'm broke. A few weeks ago I picked up this gorgeous huge gold frame for 15 bucks. Love it! The people there are super nice too. When I bought the frame, this sooo cute lady held Max and played with him while I shopped, which was such a life saver. Fellow mom's know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. Check out the website, they keep their featured items pretty current! Here are a few pics from the gold frame trip.

One of the many items I'm lusting after- $175

Inside the store. This picture does the store NOOOO justice at all. Don't really know what I was thinking.

Abode is located in Sugar House (South East Salt Lake) which is soooo cute. It's made up of beautiful old homes and funky shops with a decidedly bohemian vibe. The people who live there are either lifers (Danny's grandparents have lived there since they built their home for $12,000 about 50 years ago) or young, hip families and UU students. In my opinion, Sugar House is to Salt Lake what SoHo is to New York City. I am thus nicknaming it SuHo. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty proud of that one.

a funny little house on the way to Abode in "SuHo"

Next time- me and Britt's adventures in Gardener Village.

I love to see the temple...

The Salt Lake Temple

A funny shot of us feeling the rain (by Nicole)
Our eternal family. Awwww.

Max loves the temple too!
Joe and Britt Best Buds.

Danny's artsy shot of me and Britt. My husband the photog.

This weekend we hit temple square with Joe, Britt, Tim, and Nicole. I hadn't been there in so long, and I had almost forgotten how beautiful it is.

Afterward, Brittany and the bun in the oven were STARVING, so we went to one of our favorite SLC hot spots- the Sears parking lot. On the sidewalk by Sears there are AMAZING taco stands that are super cheap and authentic. Danny and I love them!

From there, we met up with Cory and Mike (Joe's pals that are so funny) and set out for Park City. Gotta love the outlets! By the way, Max LOVES Mike. It is seriously the funniest thing to watch- he just stares at him and smiles and loves it when he holds him. He even picks him out of a room full of people and watches him when he hears Mike's voice!

We finished off the night with baseball on the WE (WIE, WI? I am not a Nintendo person) which was actually really fun, especially because I hit a home run and Danny never even hit the ball. Ha ha! Then we hit P.F. Chang's where Nicole enjoyed delicious Mongolian Beef and rubber band. Yes, there was an actual rubber band in her food. We didn't really know Tim and Nicole before J &B came to visit, and we have had so much fun getting to know them! They are such a fun couple. Nicole has impeccable style. She is totally one of those girls that constantly makes you think, "Why didn't I think of that/ Where did she get that/!" She is so cute.

Finally, a pool!

Max loves to play with Daddy!
The fam. Notice my lack of tan. Leaving California has not been so good for my skin.
2008 Olympic hopefuls practicing their synchronized swimming. Go for the gold baby!
Joe and Britt and the baby to be!

I was so excited that our neighborhood pool opened the day after Britt and Joe came. I am seriously pasty, so we decided to take advantage of the sun while it lasts. Max is pretty unsure of the water, I think because of the temperature. He gets so sad when we first take him in, so we have to get him used to it very slowly. By the end of the day he was having a great time though!

Reunited

Finally! Brittany got here on Wednesday night and we are loving it. Today we went to Gardener Village- so fun! We are in love with this shabby chic baby store called Elsa Belle- pure genius! We also found a home store where everything in it was white. Shabby Chic bliss. The whole set up there is so cute and fun. I will definately be going back soon. We are so excited to be back together with Britt and Joe, we have missed them so much! These are a couple shots of Max and his Aunt Bibi at a cafe in G.V. - as you can see, true love!

Max's favorite cousin

I took pictures of the adorable Boston Scott on Tuesday and had so much fun. I am in the middle of lots of photoshopping right now, but I wanted to post just one. I have never done the black on black before, and I had some fun with it. More to come later...

Over the Weekend

Friday: Bye Tay-Tay!

We had a fun busy weekend! First, on Friday, Max said goodbye to his girlfriend Taylee, who stayed the week with us (with her mom and dad) while everyone worked on the new office. We got our first listing- yay! It was a tough week being a mommy to "twins," but I made it. =) Friday night we attempted to go to the Davis County Fair, but Max was too cranky, since it was so close to his bed time. Good thing we stayed home- it poured down rain!

Saturday: Balderas Birthday Party
The birthday kids:

Lydia
Israel
Me and Max!

On Saturday night, we went to Orem to celebrate Danny's mission companion's kid's birthdays. It was quite the fiesta! All of their friends and family were there, and we ate lots of yummy Mexican food and the kids played games and hit the pinata. The boys dressed up like pirates and the girls had Dora stuff. Max had a party hat on at one point, which was pretty cute! It was fun, even though it was soooo hot (I was sweating my guts out), and I was the only person who didn't speak Espanol. Everyone was really sweet to me anyway!

Sunday, a day of NO rest, and dinner with the Scotts (and baby Boston!!):

On Sunday, of all days, Max decided he did NOT need a nap. I tried multiple times to lay him down and he was not having it! I would put him in his crib and he just rolled over and played with his sock monkey, who I named Sesame, in case anyone was wondering. He wasn't cranky or crying or anything, just not sleeping! It was so weird. Max always goes down around 10 a.m. for his morning nap (sometimes even earlier!) and he hasn't been interested all week for some reason and has been going down around 12. Today, we didn't get him to sleep until around 3:00, when Danny threw him in the stroller and walked him home from church early. What a crazy kid! Any advice?! He really wasn't even acting tired. Normally I just leave him in his crib until he gets tired when he is happy and playing in there, but he was there for over an hour! It was really strange. By the way, I really like our ward. All the girls are so nice and so friendly! I am really looking forward to being better friends with some of the girls in our ward/ neighborhood. I have been pleasantly surprised at how friendly everyone has been!

Later, Nick, Kesha, Boston, Riley, Whitney, Eddie, and Uncle B came over for dinner, Aunt Kathy was a sickie and couldn't come because of the babies. =( We sure missed her!

We barbecued and I felt proud because my roasted red potato wedges turned out pretty well.

Max looks like such a munch compared to teeny Boston! Max looks especially obese in this photo. I swear he's not that fat! I do love his chub though. I sent Kesha home with some of Max's littlest clothes, since Boston hasn't hit seven pounds yet and doesn't fit into many of his 0-3 month clothes yet. It was a little sad handing over some of Max's itty bitty outfits! Some how passing them along made it official that Max was just too big for them. I thought of all the things Max did and places we went in those tiny clothes. It was a bitter sweet stroll down memory lane! It's funny how seriously attached I am to his outfits! Why do babies get big so fast? It makes me so sad. Time is passing too quickly for me and my baby boy. Max figured out how to actually jump in his jumper this morning before church! I was so proud and excited! Max seemed to feel the same way. He usually just plays with the toys and rocks from side to side in it. He was also making a valiant effort to roll from back to belly to get a toy- I'm thinking it won't be long until he can roll both ways.

Deja Vu? I gave Max another corn cob because he loved it so much last time (no actual corn, just cob). He gnaws on it and sucks the juice out like nobody's business! I love it. He even figured out how to hold it himself after a while. I love how he wrinkles up his little nose and really goes after it! he was fitting his whole mouth around the thing! I think it also feels good on his gums. It was so stinking cute I could hardly stand it.

Fun things for next week:

I am going over to Kesha's to take pictures of Boss on Tuesday and help design the announcements. I am so excited!

Wednesday is a double whammy. I am going to be judging the Box Elder County Fair photography entries. Isn't that the funniest thing you've ever heard?! I am interested to see how it goes! It should be fun and hopefully I will see some Brigham City friends while I'm there.

Wednesday night Brittany is coming!!!!!!! I can't wait to see her and Joe. It's going to be so much fun!!!! I am grateful that I will have something to keep me busy on Wednesday to keep my mind off of waiting for her flight to get in!

My Maxter

Wow, Max looks like a little boy in these pictures! My mom got him this sweater and he hasn't got to wear it much since it ended up fitting him in the summer, but we attempted to go out tonight so I thought it would be good for the evening. I am having so much fun with Max lately. He is so happy and I really love this age. He is doing this new thing where he arches his back while he lays on his tummy and shakes his arms and legs. It's almost like he is trying to swim. Actually, what it really reminds me of is the scene in Mission Impossible where Tom Cruise is hovering like three inches above the ground from a cable and he is trying not to touch it. He is pushing up really well, but when I try to help him get his knees underneath him, he really doesn't get it. I think crawling is a ways away still. Sitting is going pretty well as long as I can keep him looking up. Otherwise he ends up in a pike stretch. Max isn't showing a lot of interest in rolling from back to belly, but when he went from belly to back it was like an over night thing he learned, so we'll see. He is talking a lot but just vowel sounds. No mamama bababa yet! I love listening to him though, especially when he sits and talks to himself in the back seat. It's crazy to watch Max and Taylee next to each other because she is soooo much more advanced. She does the mama baba thing and is crawling and cruising around the furniture. I can't believe they are just a month and a half apart! I am enjoying his last months of immobility while they last. =)

So You Think You Can Dance.. Dance... Dance... Dance...

For those of you who do not already know, I am obsessed with this show. I was so excited when I watched the finale this morning while the babies were asleep (thank heaven for DVR) and my top pick, Sabra, was the winner! This girl is the shiz. She is the most captivating dancer I have ever seen and she has only been dancing for four years. That is CRAZY. She is totally amazing. I want to BE her. It has been one long week, I am so looking forward to the weekend! I think Danny, Max and I are going to go to the County Fair tonight and eat some good fair food. AND Danny is bringing home Cafe Rio! Splendidness.

Disecting my Split Personality

So, call me schitzo. I randomly took the test again and came up with a different answer. Weird! It's funny though, because there are things about both test that are very me, although overall, the first one I posted is strangely accurate. So I sat down and looked at some things in each test. I know, blah, I already posted about this, dork! Oddly enough, taking this silly test has been an insightful exercise for me. This is really more for myself that for anyone else, it's probably pretty boring to read because I'm not that exciting and even if I were, it's already been blogged about, so please don't feel obligated to read it by any means. Sorry for the rambling. Feel free to scroll past it to more of my usual musings about Max. Ha ha!

You Are An ENTP

The Visionary You are charming, outgoing, friendly. You make a good first impression.You possess good negotiating skills and can convince anyone of anything.Happy to be the center of attention, you love to tell stories and show off.You're very clever, but not disciplined enough to do well in structured environments.In love, you see everything as a grand adventure. You enjoy taking risks for love.And if things don't work out, you're usually not too much worse for the wear!You would make a great entrepreneur, marketing executive, or actor.At work, you need a lot of freedom to pursue your own path and vision. How you see yourself: Analytical, creative, and peaceful. When other people don't get you, they see you as: Detached, wishy-washy, and superficial

What's" Your Personality Type?

The whole first paragraph in the first test I would say is pretty much me. I seem to have a knack for job interviews (hence the good first impression thang) and I would say I am friendly and outgoing. The negotiator part is TOTALLY true. I tend to be a beast if you don't see it my way and I will argue to the death when I know I'm right. My whole family and my school teachers have said to me my whole life that I should have been a lawyer because I'm a persuader! Danny says he sees right through me though. =) I am also very opinionated and I have a hard time keeping quiet about it. But I respect the fact that not everyone will agree with me and I can respect someone else's opinion even if I don't agree, especially if you are thoughtful and you can back it up logically. I loooove to have a good story to tell, but I hope I'm not a show off! Maybe it's something I need to work on though. I think it's something I will be acutely aware of now...I'm embarrassed to admit that I like attention. I LOVE to perform! I would say that part of it is that I need a lot of affirmation. I put myself out there and I thrive on feedback, good or bad, on things I do. If I'm doing something well, I like to know, but if I'm doing something wrong, I HAVE to know. I think that comes from gymnastics, where it's always "good job on this, but but fix that, that, and that." I feel like I am always striving to improve and I really appreciate insightful constructive criticism. But I am a pleaser. I work hard to gain the respect of people I look up to.

Being creative- I love doing creative things and it is a big part of what makes Me! Choreography, photography, my "projects." I also try to dress and decorate creatively. Not that I'm usually too successful at it! I think I miss the mark a lot. But I thrive on being different. I don't like to do the same things as everyone else.

"clever, but not disciplined enough to do well in structured environments" Totally true. I do not like too much structure, except for in sports! I do like to have space to pursue my vision on things, a statement which is a bit vague, but true nonetheless.

I think I would describe myself as analytical and creative, but more crazy than peaceful.

The love stuff is true on both, I used to be a flirt, and not follow through. I don't think I was a risk taker in love, but I never remember being too bummed if a relationship didn't work out as expected. I never really spent too much time dwelling on guys, I always thought I had more important things to spend time on!

You Are An ENFP

The Inspirer You love being around people, and you are deeply committed to your friends.You are also unconventional, irreverent, and unimpressed by authority and rules.Incredibly perceptive, you can usually sense if someone has hidden motives.You use lots of colorful language and expressions. You're quite the storyteller! In love, you are quite the charmer. And you are definitely willing to risk your heart.You often don't follow through with your flirting or professed feelings. And you do break a lot of hearts. At work, you are driven but not a workaholic. You just always seem to enjoy what you do.You would make an excellent entrepreneur, politician, or journalist. How you see yourself: compassionate, unselfish, and understanding When other people don't get you, they see you as: gushy, emotional, and unfocused

What's" Your Personality Type?

The first paragraph on this test is very me too. My friends are very important to me. I don't have a lot of them, but the ones I have I stay close to. My very closest friends are still my friends from high school, plus Britt. I am also really lucky to have friends in different parts of the country since we have moved so much! I love keeping in contact with people through blogging; it has become an obsession. It has been so nice to feel more connected to a lot of you that I don't get to talk to on the phone that much(mostly because of our kiddos), but that have been a huge part of my life (shout out to Rachelle, Sarah C., Sarah A., Sabrina... I seriously love you guys). Aw jeez, I love all my blog friends!

Furthermore, rules are made for other people, and almost never apply to me. The language part is me, and it's funny that it says I would be a good journalist (hello journalism major). I enjoy what I do, but in truth, I really only do things I enjoy.

I think I would describe myself as understanding and compassionate, but I am sorry to admit that selfishness is my downfall in life. I would really like to be more selfless, but it is something I am aware of, and I am working on it.

So, that was a mouthful. I hope you don't think I was being a big storyteller or trying to be the center of attention. Ha ha! And really, I am sorry to be such a bore, but this has been a good opportunity for me to reflect on the good and the bad aspects of my personality.