Family Pics 08

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! We love you all and hope you have a wonderful holiday season!!

Brunch with Santa

We were lucky to get an invite from Kim and Lee to join them for brunch at the county club with Santa. The kids had so much fun telling Santa what they wanted for Christmas. Adarius asked for a marshmallow gun and a candy cane! (how easy is that) and Tavian was just in awe that he was actually sitting on his lap! I asked Santa to have a talk with Adarius and let him know just how important it is to be good! (I have to milk it for what it is worth only 9 more days to use that as a threat!) The food was great and so was the company! Thanks guys!

Thanks Nana!!

We spent Thanksgiving in Colorado and had such a great time! (thanks Mimi and Uncle John) Nana decided to give Adarius his Christmas present early as you can see it was quite a present! He is so excited to get out and learn to snowboard! I can't get over the fact how cute he looks all geared up. Elan took him down the 10 foot hill behind Mimi's (Shirani's) house and of course he was a natural! I guess that benefits you when your only 4 learning to snowboard -NO FEAR!

"How to get a 2 yr old to stop crying"

So Elan figured something out so amazing- how to get a 2 yr old to stop crying. Pull out your camera and start snapping away!

During his meltdown he noticed the baby paparazzi and decided to say "CHEESE" and then said "I-ana see" No more crying...genuise!!!!

Early Thanksgiving 08

Last weekend we had our early Wogksch thanksgiving at the cabin! It was a lot of fun. No big fights police didn't even need to be called. We all got along great. The kids had so much fun together the only time I saw Adarius and Tavian was when they needed a drink of water or it was time for bed. It was a good thing to, because I myself was busy playing Rock Band. We had our annual talent show for the kids Adarius did karate and Tavian counted to 10. Next year the adults will be participating! Uncle Ken brought up some little 4 wheelers for the kids, but the adults might of just had more fun on them! We even got my mom on one! It was such a nice and relaxing weekend and I had so much fun with all the family!

Halloween 2008!

This year Adarius chose to be Batman!! I figured this is probably the last year that Tavian will be Adarius's side kick. Last year it was Mickey Mouse and Pluto. Next year I'm sure Taye will be very vocal about who he wants to be. It was a great day. Adarius had a little parade and presentation at pre-school. He sang songs and all the kids wore there costumes. Then we headed to grandma's to show off there costumes, came home and Elan took them around the neighborhood. I love Halloween! There's so much to chose for breakfast, lunch and dinner- kit-kats, snickers, m&ms, and resess peanut butter cups. (and that's just the chocolate) lol

Yellow Belt!

"Ai-Ya!" Adarius has been taking Karate 2x a week for the last two months. He loves it and so do we! There is nothing cuter than a bunch of four year olds acting like ninjas. He just promoted to a Yellow Belt on Friday the 24th. Requirements to get the Yellow Belt: obey parents, clean room, do good in school, and attend all Karate classes. (Are these not the BEST requirements in the WORLD!!) He might just be in Karate until he is 18! - even if it is dorky to be "the Karate guy." We are soooo proud of him and all of his family was there to support him on his big day. Way to go Adarius!
"I'm going to kick your ass dude!"
"Attention!" "Yes Sir!" I love this picture just for the fact that he is standing still. That never happens.
Parent's proud moment!

Happy Birthday Taye!

I can't believe you are turning 2 how time flies. It seems like yesterday that we were welcoming you to our family and bringing you home from the hospital. You are such a special boy. You always have a smile on your face and anything can make you laugh. You bring such a sweet spirit to our family. We couldn't imagine life without you and we are so lucky to have you in our lives. Happy #2 Big boy!
Your first Birthday! I love this picture! Oh my, how have grown!!
Ok, let me first start out with an explanation why we bought our son this unnecessary present! I am completely against these and can't believe we just purchased one. We started a terrible habit with Tavian. When he was about 9 months we started putting him to bed with a bottle. We have been thinking about ways to help him give it up! The other day one of the neighbor boys was riding around in his power wheels. I looked at Tavian and said do you want one of those? He said yes and I told him no more" baba" then. He walked right to me handed me the bottle and said "garbage?" I was in disbelief, bribing would have never worked with Adarius. So that's the reason for this ridiculous gift but the boys love it!!

Pumpkins Everywhere

I took the boys to pick out their own pumpkins for carving. The only rule I had was if you can lift it and carry it to the car then it's yours. Adarius insisted that the pumpkin behind his head in this picture was his. He kept saying just get it down and I will show you that I can carry it! The only problem was I couldn't even lift it to get it down. Silly boy!

"I'm on top of the world!!"
"I can carry this one mommy"
"Hurry Mom, pay the lady. My arms are getting tired!"

Dinosaur Museum

Elan decided to take the day off on Tues. so we decided to take the boys and go do something fun. We missed them so much and just wanted to spend time with them. Here are some pictures from our adventure.
Tavian and Adarius are finally at the age where they love each other and are best friends. Don't get me wrong, they have their moments but all in all they get along great!

"Mommy, Daddy I think we just found his leg?"The boys had so much fun digging in the sand and playing in the water. FYI: Tuesday is clearly the best day to go. As you could see they didn't have anyone to fight with but themselves.

You can't leave the dinosaur museum without the picture of the shark. As you can see Tavian is holding on to the stroller just in case he needs to jump out really quick! He wasn't very confindent that the shark was pretend.

Old school NBA players

We were lucky enough to spend some time with Thurl Bailey (former NBA Jazz player) on our cruise. And coincidentally as we were leaving the LA airport, I ran into my former love of my life- Rick Fox!!!! (former Lakers superhunk) I just couldn't resist a pic!!! Isn't he hot gray hair and all!!!

Cruising!!

Elan and I have just returned from a 7 day cruise to Mexico. We enjoyed ourselves immensely!! (even though we had to dodge Hurricane Norbit) It was the first time leaving our kids for a full week but through family help they made it possible!! "Thanks!" - to all of you. We went to Puerto Vallarta first and then the agenda was to head to Mazatlan and then to Cabo San Lucas. But do to the hurricane, which Elan insisted that it was impossible for hurricanes to exists in the Pacific, (if I would have known that, I would not have set foot on that boat -- not with my anxiety!!), our plans slightly changed in a big way. We went to Cabo for only a few hrs and then skipped Mazatlan and headed straight to ghetto Ensenada, right below Tijuana. Good news folks it had some of the best shopping and bartering south of the border. It took me 2 days to get used to the constant rocking of the boat but figured out that getting drunk makes it ll go away!! haha J/K All in all it was a great needed vacation and there is no one else I'd rather spend my time with!! Yeah, that's you baby!

We were able to enjoy the cruise with Elan's business partner and best friend Will and his wife Courtney Snowden, James and Carolyn Dye (their VP), and business associate Patrick and Carrie James. We all had a blast together!!

In Puerto Vallarta we were able to do an excursion we decided to zip-line through the jungle. Now I wasn't quite aware of the nearly 800 ft ravines (at least that's what it seemed like) but I had so much fun and was able to conquer my fear of heights. Plus Adarius thought he had the coolest parents cause we were just like Diego!!

Luckily we took this picture the 2nd day of the cruise because when you can eat 24 hrs a day and have ice cream and treats available to you whenever you please, it's easy to pack on the pounds, like Elan's additional 12lbs. he gained in a week. I won't mention how many lbs I gained. lol


Safety training and us at the casino winning big!!!

Picture 2 is the WINNER!!

Thanks for all of your comments. The moral of the story is, obviously if you can just dedicate 12 weeks of your life you can completely and dramatically change the shape of your body. The only problem is I want the results overnight (don't we all) and usually by week 2 I have given up. 12 weeks seems longer that being pregnant for 9 months when you are working out daily. I admire Elan to have such a desire (even if he did get rewarded $900.00) and determination to finish this competition out!! I know he looks and feels a lot healthier and he continues to work out 4 days a week. I love you babe!

PS Yes he did find out about this it did a lot of convincing that" no one is even looking at picture 1, they are completely in awe with how good you look in pic 2". Took a couple of hours but he forgave me.

Picture 1 or Picture 2?

Picture 1 .................................. Picture 2

Ok, so I came across these before and after pictures and I am interested in which picture you think looks better? I'm torn myself due to the daisy dukes in Pic 1 and the overall nerdyness, but Pic 2 looks really good to me!!! By the way this is a 12 week competition that him and his co-workers had in which he won!! Seriously did you all think he was gonna be the loser?! So comments are much appreciated in this serious matter! (good or bad)
FYI Elan does not know about this little poll that I am taking and he probably would not approve of it, but I couldn't help myself!! So shhhh

Nikon or Canon?

I know it's been awhile since I have given an update. We have been busy the last few weeks and are in the process of buying a new camera. Our other camera decided to finally stop working after it had been dropped over 10 times, dropped in a sink full of water, and the buttons were so sticky from lollipops and otter pops! We decided to invest in a nice camera (hands off Adarius and Taye) so we are busy doing research on the best one? Nikon or Canon? Any advice would be great! So for me personally I like to post pictures with what I am blogging about. So that is the explanation for the drought.
Adarius is busy with going to pre-school 3 times a week and he just started karate. I must say it is the cutest thing ever when you hear a 4 year old shout out self control and concentration sir, when the teacher asks why we stand at attention. His favorite thing to do is play with his friends. It starts right when he wakes up "when can I play with my friends?" I always respond with "let me see is the sun up yet?"
Tavian is just getting bigger and bigger everyday. Learning new words everyday. Elan told me a funny story that I have to share. I had left for the night to do some scrapbooking with my sisters so I wasn't home to see. Elan had giving Tavian some marshmallows and Tavian decided to dump them all over and start stomping on them. Elan told him NO very sternly and took them all away. Tavian's feelings were crushed he feel to the ground crying so hard. Elan started to fell really bad so he walked over to him to love him better. Tavian looked at Elan and shouted NO and ran to Adarius. Tavian threw his arms around Adarius and held him for at least 2 min. And Tavian kept saying and daddy and daddy trying to let Adarius know just how mean daddy had been to him. Elan said it was the sweetest thing ever!
As for me and Elan I am busy keeping up with the boys, I swear they keep me in shape. Elan is busy coaching the 9th grade Lone Peak football team and busy with work. We are looking forward to a cruise in 4 weeks. (No Kids Allowed) We have a trip planned to Moab next week, maybe we will have a camera by then. I'll make sure I post some pictures maybe even our new camera! lol

Dash for Donation 5K

As most of you know, Elan had a kidney transplant nearly a 1 1/2 years ago and is doing well. He looks so good and people are always in disbelief that he had a transplant not so long ago. Once a year the Utah Transplant Organization, Donate Life, has this event to raise money for donation awareness. Last year Elan and I were able to run it but this year due to having my appendix removed 2 weeks ago and Elan having some problems with his knee, we decided it would be fun to get the kids involved and walk it with them. We were hoping for 1st place but our 1 hr 5 min finish was a distant 2nd to the 17 min runner. We had a great time and the kids enjoyed themselves.

My cute nieces Natalie and Samantha came and supported Elan which I think is pretty amazing since they are teenagers and we all know how hard it is to get up at 6:30 a.m. when you are that age! Thanks guys!

After the walk we stopped and fed the ducks. When we ran out of bread we headed for the car. When I turned around to tell Adarius to hurry up I started to laugh because they were all following him hoping to get just one more piece. Adarius loved it!