The Lion Sleeps Tonight...

A couple Wednesday nights ago I got home from work, excited about the fun weekend ahead and noticed that my mom had called and invited me to go see The Lion King in SLC the next night. They had an extra ticket! Boy did I luck out!

First we were treated to Olive Garden courtesy Kyle Rollins! Thanks Dad, it was delicious.

Ella was very excited to see the play. So excited in fact, that she couldn't eat her food. When our waitress told her that she had to eat now because all the lions would have eaten all the food at the play Ella just looked away and laughed saying, "Doesn't she know? My mom ALWAYS has fruit snacks."

The whole crew: Grandma, Reb, Dad, Mom, Me and last but not least, Ella! She was very excited to go to this "big girl" event.

One excited little skibby!

The play was FANTASTIC! I recommend it to anyone who can get tickets. It was beautiful and the costumes were seriously magical. I have to admit, I did shed a tear or two. They did a wonderful job. Ella did her "chirping" giggle the whole time and was happy to be there the whole time, despite getting out a couple hours past her bedtime! :)
THANKS MOM, DAD, AND GRANDMA for the fantastic night.

A Perfect Day

I knew it was going to be a great day but I had no idea it would turn out to be as fantastic as it did. My mom came to pick my up at the apartment to go to Scrapbook Expo USA. I was super excited but she blew my mind with a surprise she got me from her latest trip to Ohio. Those that know me, know that I have a thing for Circus Peanuts. I adore them. Well., her surprise was a bag of MULTICOLORED Circus Peanuts. That's when I knew the day would be epic.

The best part of all is they are slightly different flavors. Ie: Pink is bubblegum. White is vanilla.

We loved the Scrapbook Expo. It was our first time going and we were blown away by how many women were there with all of their scrap supply strewn out on all the tables. Wow.

We also picked up on a few techniques for next year, such as: Don't freak out and buy a bunch of stuff at the first booth because of their sweet awesome deals. (Every booth has sweet awesome deals, some better than others.)
Next year, we'll shop around first.

It was such a fun time! I'm so glad that my mom is so much like me, or visa versa. We appreciated all the same stuff. And we also got giddy at the same stuff too. :)

As if the Expo wasn't enough, we went out to eat at a place called, Pei Wei. I had never been but my mom said it was a more affordable version of P.F. Changs so I was in.

We got lettuce wraps and honey chicken. Mmmmm! Also. They have orange and lemon slices to put in your water. Orange slices? We were intrigued. We came. We tried. We LOVED! It put just lemon water to shame. Poor lemon.

Afterwards, I met up with Chad, Sean, and Jeff to mini-golf it up. It was really pleasant weather and also a lot of fun. Not to toot my own horn, but I got a hole it one. Sorry, toot.

Chad and I ended the night with a movie with my parents.
Perfect Day!

The only thing to make it better is if I win that contest I signed up for to win free bundt cake for a year! Fingers crossed.

Seth-A-Boy Turned Two!

We were really excited when Seth was born into our family, being a heavily girl populated one. We were even more excited when Seth turned 2! Can't believe he is this big already. Last night we went over to Reb and Rob's to celebrate. Seth is obsessed with Buzz Lightyear, or "Buuuh Ligh-year" as he says it. It was only fitting that we celebrated with "Buuuh" in mind. It was really fantastic.

Rebecca made the Alien cupcakes which turned out so adorable. And me, being my mother's daughter, volunteered to make Seth's cake. I found a cake recipe that I had been needing to find an excuse to make for about 2 months now.

Isn't he such a charmer boy?

Surprise! After four hours of cake intensive labor, this beauty was born. I'm pretty happy with it. The cake I got the idea from had seven smaller layers, all different colors, making it a true rainbow cake.

Almost every present was somehow Toy Story associated. Each time Seth opened a present he would yell in an extremely excited almost squealy voice, "BUUH LIGH- YEAR!" It never got old. Each present was just as exciting as the last. Of course he ended up with a Buzz Lightyear of his own that his mom and dad gave him.

He also got this sweet space ranger shooter. He doesn't quite know how to hold it yet. Thank goodness he's not a cop. But he does know how to "get bad guys".

It's not a party until Chad pulls a face in a picture.

I have no idea what happened to this picture so that's all I'll say about that.
Reb threw a great party. It was perfect and "out of this world".
Sorry, it had to be said.

Missing

I miss these people.

My sister, Rachel.
My diva, Cristina.

Time for a quickie?

Is this not the cutest thing you've ever seen? I especially love the adult hands holding the baby. Also note the cutout behind the baby for said adult's body. Thank you Martha Stewart.

Pee Ess: More posts to come once I a.) unload all of my pictures off my camera, b.) take a couple pictures of some things that I'm feeling bloggerish about, and c.) once freakin' JoAnne's Fabric gets this ribbon I need to finish up a crafting project. Be patient. I know I'm trying to be.

Until then, I hope Owl Boy tides you over.

Miss Lulubelle

I have THE worlds best/cutest/sweetest/most amazing dog in the entire world.
I got Lulu for my birthday when I was in seventh grade. It was the best present I have ever gotten. Being the youngest of three girls I always wanted a younger sibling. Lulu is just that. She pretty much thinks that she's a person. To prove it, I have to keep a second water cup next to my bed because Lulu will wake up during the night and scrape on the bed for a glass of water. She only drinks out of her dog dish when she's A. Exhausted from playing with her ball, or B. When she's eating.Even though Lu is a 10 year old dog (that's 70 in dog years) she is definitely not an 'old fogey'. She enjoys going jogging with me, going to the park and running clear across a field for a good hour in the hot sun playing with her ball, and watching movies with Chad.

Chad is sooooo whipped.

One day while Chad and I were at work we accidentally kept our bedroom door closed and Lulu (thinking we were in there) tried to dig through and took out a chunk of carpet. We tried to be mad at her, but she had carpet in her teeth and it was adorable. Luckily, Chad is a handyman extraordinaire and patched that bad boy up so quick you couldn't even tell.

Here's proof that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. When Chad and I got married and Lulu moved in with us, Chad though it would be cool in addition to her dancing, high five/ten, begging, speaking and catching her ball mid-air, if he taught her a new trick. Above is Lu balancing one of her fav. foods: Banana. She'll hold it there for a LONG time and then catch it when we tell her to.

I Dream of Capri

In 2008 my Uncle and Aunt invited my sister and I on their family trip to Europe. One of the places we stopped at was an island off the coast of Naples called, Capri. (They pronounce it Cap-ri with the emphasis on 'cap') This is hands down THE most beautiful place I have ever seen. Ever since that trip I dream of Capri almost every night. One day I'll return, but until then, I'll just dream.
Here's a little tour of my trip to Capri. If any of you get the chance, GO TO CAPRI.

There is a chairlift that can take you to the highest point of Capri. You can look down on the cities, (there are two: Capri, and Anicapri.) the port, and the Faraglioni (pronounced fra-lioni) which are these massive rocks you see in the picture.
P.S. That's my sister.

Here is a view from the chairlift.

Another REALLY cool thing about Capri is its Grottos. Capri is home to the famous Blue and Green Grottos. Our boat driver told us that the only way to experience these Grottos is not to wait in the huge tour line and go through with little row boats but to swim. I guess it's a local thing. Above is a picture of us swimming through the Green Grotto. We later found out that my uncle was stung by a jelly fish through here.

P.S. As seen below, it's strictly forbidden to swim. So of course we did.

I didn't take the picture below because well, we were swimming. But no joke, this is exactly what it looks like. Minus the row boat. There is a tiny opening that if you go by boat, you have to lay flat on your back to go through. There are no lights inside the Grotto. I have no idea how it gets that blue, but it does. This picture has not been tampered with. It's also REALLY deep and goes REALLY far in. I'm not gonna lie, it was also REALLY scary. But totally worth it.

As if you guys thought Capri couldn't get any cooler, it does. There is an AMAZING restaurant that only really the locals know about. It is called Da Paolino Lemon Tree Restaurant. Capri is known for their massive lemons which they turn into an alcoholic drink called Limoncello. Here is a picture of the restaurant. MY picture totally didn't do it justice, however Da Paolino's website does. Click here to be blown away. Also. Some of those lemons are the size of large grapefruits.

Here is a close-up of the Faraglioni. Our boat driver drove us right through the whole you see behind. It's tradition for the couple on board to kiss while going through. So sweet. Haha!

The water is so gorgeous that the water is constantly filled with boats. It makes for picture perfect scenery.

I haven't even touched a pinprick of how awesome Capri is. You'll have to experience that for yourselves. But, maybe I've even given some of you some great images to dream about too. While leaving Capri, I jokingly told my family that USA is my homeland, Capri is my home. :) I think there may be some truth to that.