30

This guy turned 30... about 3 weeks ago (So I get behind on blogging sometimes.) I threw a surprise party for him, which apparently wasn't much of a surprise after all. He had some hints along the way.

Anyhoo, we had a lot of fun with it. I asked everyone to bring an inexpensive, or even free gift of something that reminded them of Matt. He's such a funny, quirky guy, some pretty great ideas came out of it. Among them were: a bidet, a dented toy car (A story from high school), plastic money, an afro wig, a home perm kit (yes, he once permed his hair), a weird plastic skull head with hair (story from high school involving a locker war). We laughed at the stories everyone had to share about Matt and also enjoyed a little cake.

I also put together a memory book as a gift for Matt. I asked several friends and family members to contribute pictures and stories to make this a really special gift. I spent countless hours on the computer putting it all together, and it finally arrived in the mail on Saturday. I was so excited to show Matt, and this is what it looked like:

The cover--looks pretty good (even though my picture of it isn't so great) But once we opened the book up, this is what we saw: pictures of some guy HUNTING and drinking beer. I was mad at first about the mix-up, but then we got a pretty good laugh about it!

I'm not a fan of hunting, so these pictures of gutting a dear completely gross me out.

Yeah, that's right, drinking from a beer bong.

Hopefully the REAL book will arrive in the mail soon!

Halloween

I know, delayed Halloween posting, but better late than never, am I right? I got behind on my blogging because of a surprise birthday party I threw for Matt recently (more info on that later)

Halloween this year was a lot of fun, especially since Sophie actually grasped the concept a little bit. She insisted on carrying her own treat bucket (who can blame her?!), and it was hilarious to watch her decide on which candy to pick. Lots of suckers. And thanks to this candy-filled holiday, she now officially knows what candy is, and asks for it all the time.

Check out this adorable picture my friend Veronica took of Sophie. Yes, she is a rock star photographer. Check her out http://veronicareeve.com/

Wheeler Farm

My cousin, Vanessa, and I are only 2 months apart in age. We have always been pretty close and spent lots of time together when we were younger. We were kind of weird, though. When Vanessa slept over at my house, we would sneak up to the kitchen late at night and eat, get this, homemade dill pickles. We loved them, and would usually make several trips to the fridge.

Fast forward 20 years, we have toddlers only 6 weeks apart in age. I love how it all worked out and we try to get these two together once a month. This month we made the trip to Wheeler Farm and let them see cows, sheep, horses, chickens, and my personal favorite, baby pigs. so cute. We also took a ride for the steep price of $1.50 on a wagon to tour the entire farm. (I love how inexpensive Utah is!)

Sophie showing me Hayden's eye

Annual Funk Halloween Party

Not a great picture, I know, but the lighting in a church building is not the best. Halloween is one of my family's favorite holidays, and they love to go all out on the party. (No costumes this year--separate story)

Here's what we did:

1: Dinner of chili, rolls, salad, and doughnuts. This has been the menu for as long as I can remember. It's comforting.

2: Pumpkin carving/decorating contest. Matt and I made a "Sophie" pumpkin. Didn't really look like her, but we had fun doing it. I thought we had a chance at winning, but my brother beat us out with a "Hamburger" pumpkin. Clever.

3: My sister made up her own game of "Survivor"--Halloween style. She's the clever slash crafty one in the family, so we leave that stuff up to her. You can see pictures below of the dress-up relay part of the game. I know these games are cheesy, but we have a lot of fun with them.

4: I did face painting for the little ones. I love how excited they get to have a lame little spider painted on their cheek. It's cute.

That about sums it up.

The winning pumpkin

Sweet action shots from the relay game

Dinosaur Park

My sister-in-law and I spent the afternoon at the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. The weather was perfect, which we are desperately trying to enjoy before it is gone. I think Sophie is still a little too young to really appreciate the dino exhibit, but she had a great time playing with her cousin, Alivia. There was this great little playground specifically designed for littler kids. They both loved climbing the stairs, going down the slide, but most of all, playing in the sand.

Another highlight of the day was putting Sophie's hair in pigtails for the first time. Her hair has the strangest growth pattern right now. It's very short in the back, but long on the sides. We just laugh and say that she has an extreme A-line cut. Very chic. I think I will take her to my hairdresser in a couple weeks to get it trimmed.

What do you think?

I recently came across this blog:

seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com

Tell me what you think. Heads up: it's not real, it's a parody.

Check out my sweet new header

Creepy, I know. This picture is totally random and has nothing to do with my post, but I felt like I needed something. Let me explain. This was Sophie's first taste (and probably last) of a slurpee. She was completely off her rocker and our sides were aching with laughter after watching her. Not sure we should have compared her to Jack Nicholson from The Shining, but the resemblance is uncanny.

Anyhoo, back to the subject. I spent a week in California with my talented, beautiful friend Mandi and she created this amazing header for me. Not only did she design my blog, she also made adorable head accessories for Sophie, (check out rubysclips.com) hooked me up with free gym classes which left me aching for days, took me shopping, lunching, cooked me delicious meals and desserts, and above all, entertained me with her charm and wit. Oh, and not to mention the most beautiful "botanical gardens" I have ever seen (wink, wink) Seriously, though, this girl has more talent and creativity in her little pinky than I have or ever will have in my entire body. Yes, cliche, but I'm not great with words. Thanks for the good times, Mand (Can I call you Mand?)

Disappointingly, I did not snap a single picture, so just imagine what the pictures might have looked like.