Family Pictures

Yesterday we got some family pictures taken...

I was worried that Audrey wouldn't cooperate, but she was perfect!



This is Trav's and my favorite picture. Our photographer was awesome!

Audrey in WoNdErLaNd

This morning when Audrey woke up she wanted me to get one of her pink stuffed rabbits so that she could play with it. She kept calling it "Mr. Rabbit" and she was making it run really fast. I didn't get why she was calling it Mr. Rabbit...I would have thought it was a female rabbit because it was pink. Then she asked me to put Alice in Wonderland on and it all made sense.

Cute Pictures

A few weeks ago I went into my bedroom and this is what I saw: Audrey made herself a little office space of sorts.

The next day I decided to let Audrey wear whatever she wanted to. It was freezing outside (well, it at least felt like it) and I guess she wanted to wear something that made her think Spring...
So who do you think she gets her fashion sense from?

My 24th Birthday

I woke up to Travis and Audrey coming in my room saying "Happy Birthday". When I walked out of our bedroom there was one of Travis's signature candy trails leading down stairs. Audrey was busy "counting" starbursts all morning. Travis made me delicious waffles with strawberries and HOMEMADE whipped cream (he made it himself!). Then we went to church. When we came home all 3 of us took naps. This year for my Birthday dinner I wanted to do a Thanksgivingish dinner because we missed Thanksgiving (we were in Hawaii). The only thing missing was butternut squash, and apple pie.

Don't judge our lack of aesthetically appealing table layout...I never realized before how much we are lacking in this department.Audrey was very eager to help me open my presents.

Travis got me a Gift card to The Limited and a subscription to Martha Stewart Living. Both are very useful gifts!

All day Audrey kept telling me Happy Birthday, and then she would say "It's Audrey's Birthday too". I can't wait for her Birthday!

ChRiStMaS tReE

We wanted to decorate our Christmas tree before we left for Hawaii...which we did do, I am just late about getting the pictures posted. A fair warning, our tree is REALLY BIG, so brace yourself...

Audrey was ready and willing to help decorate the tree. I was very impressed with her skill.

We almost had to get a ladder to put the star on the tree, but Travis could just barely reach the top with Audrey's help.
Is it obvious that Audrey LOVED this?

Babysitters

Although I was worried about how Audrey would deal with me and Travis leaving her, she had a great time with my family. She only cried 3 times total (two were in the bath and one was because she bit her tongue)! I am having a good day if she only cries 3 times...I can't imagine what it would be like if she didnt cry all day. So it sounds like she was on her best behavior, which I am glad. It was hard to leave her, but I knew that she was in good hands. When we got back to Raleigh last night, she started crying for my Mom so I know that she really did have a good time. I am so thankful to all of my family that helped out with Audrey...I know that it is not an easy job!

Day 8

Travis's favorite thing was snorkeling and mine was searching for LOST sites. So Travis agreed to look for some more with me. So we went in search of the beach that they filmed the first season on. We arrived at the beach but kept driving down closer to the spot where we guessed it had been filmed. As we were driving we saw a bunch of cars and trailers on the side of the road. We kept driving and then we saw a bunch of houses that looked like Dharma houses...we also saw a ton of people there. We accidentally stumbled upon them filming LOST!!!! So we asked permssion to watch, and we watched for about 4 hours. We got to see Sawyer, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Ben, maybe Uncle Rico (we are pretty sure it was him, but he was too far), and the guy with the eye patch...he actually waved to us!

Kate got interviewed by someone and it was in the parking lot that we had our car in.
They were filming a scene on the beach with Ben, in the picture you can't see it very well, but there were some canoes that they were using.

We basically were just observers. Half of me was wanting to scream and jump up and down and beg everyone or anyone to take a picture with me, but the other half (the half that didnt want to get kicked out) was wanting to show respect for the people...and instead of thinking about having a picture with them I was grateful just to be there. We werent supposed to take pictures, so we dont have great shots of anything. I dont want to give away what we saw (not that it is huge) but let's just say that season 5 looks very interesting so far. What an amazing ending to an awesome vacation.

That night we flew out at 11:15 pm...back to reality.

Day 7

Travis had the choice between surfing and snorkeling again...and he chose snorkeling! He bought his own stuff and we went to Hanuma Bay again. I didnt go in the water with him this time. I am glad that we got to go again because Travis really LOVED it.

We had dinner at a Japanese restaurant comparable to Beni-hana's.

Day 5

Chris and Laura flew to another island in the morning, and me and Travis had to move into another hotel...it was waay nicer and only a few dollars more per night. We had planned to go kyaking, but it was too expensive so instead we layed out on the beach and took naps (you can't do that with kids) and we walked along it...very relaxing.

Day 6

All day it was raining, which was ok because we got to go drive around the island and see some things. So, we are big LOST fans, and as you fellow fans know, it is filmed on Oahu. The Hummer tours were like $140 per person, and that was too much for us to pay. So what did we do? We found a hummer and followed it to several locations. Yeah, I know...pathetic, but at least it was free. We had to part ways when the hummer went into an area that normal vehicles can't enter.

There were two docks at this location and both were used on the show. Our tour guide (lol) told the group that they put a Dharma sign up on this front

The Hawaii temple has consistently been my favorite temple in pictures, it was definately beautiful!

This is at the Napuli lookout (the spelling is wrong, but I am too lazy to look up the correct way).

Day 4

Chris was feeling under the weather so Laura stayed with him for the morning and me and Travis went back to Waimea Beach...we tried to go on a hike at the falls, but it is closed until January. Chris and Laura met us halfway and we went to Hanuma Bay to go snorkeling. Travis LOVED it! It was ok for me but I got really cold and I am scared of fish so I had to swim with my arms hugged around my chest in some parts. We had Thanksgiving dinner at Planet Hollywood...once again it was free.

There were some stray chickens walking around and I had to take a picture of this one

We saw Sylvester Stallone at Planet Hollywood and Travis started talking to him like Mr. T. Apparently Stallone did not think it was funny.

Day 3

Wednesday we went to Pearl Harbor. Since I was born on Pearl Harbor day, I have always been interested in the history. We watched a movie and on our tickets we each had a different person's mini biography. It was really sad to read about the lives' lost that day. It definately made me appreciate the sacrifices the militery makes for our country. Here is a part of the Arizona

After Pearl Harbor we went to Waikiki beach (which was about a 10 minute walk from our hotel). It was extremely crowded, and EVERYONE was smoking there. I really hate it when people smoke in public. We had free dinner at Planet Hollywood. Then we went dancing! Yeah, it had been waay too long. Everyone had fun!

Day 2

We went to the time share presentation where we got educated on marriage, vacations, and the economy (can you hear the sarcasm?). It was relatively painless for all of the benefit we got out of it though. After that we went to Waimea Beach.

I kept trying to get a picture of these two with a big wave behind them, but obviously I failed. The waves were pretty big though, the water was warm, the sand was perfect...

Our goal was to look like we were standing upThe sand was EVERYWHERE!!!

We went straight over to the PCC after the beach. We saw some cool things, and I definately learned a lot more about the Polynesian culture. The luau food was decent, but next time I would bring some BBQ sauce. The show was definately fun to watch. There were dances from I think 6 different islands (Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti...etc). The Tahiti dances were by far the best.

Me and my sweetie at waiting in line for food!
There were some of these awesome trees, and here you can see Travis releasing the primate in him.

Day 1

The first day we spent 11 hours on a plane (2 hr then 9 hr flights). We woke up at 5 am and when we got to Hawaii it was about 4 p.m. (5 hour time difference). We met Chris and Laura in the airport and then we picked up our rental car (I would definately recommend getting one if you go to Hawaii) and we went to our hotel. For $55 per night I wasn't expected much, but our room was decent and for the price I can't complain. We ate dinner at Chili's and we walked around for a while (there are a TON of stores and street performers). We signed up to go to a time share presentation Tuesday morning (we got FREE tickets to the Polynesian Culturial Center which included luau and performance, plus $50 at Planet Hollywood). We had to call it a night early because we were all so tired.

HaWaIi

Me and Travis dropped Audrey off with my parents and spent a week in Hawaii. We have never done anything close to this and it was a much needed vacation. It was hard to leave Audrey, but I knew that she was in very good hands. We met our good friends, Chris and Laura, in Hawaii. I dont think we could have asked for anything more out of our vacation...it was perfect!!!

Twilight Movie Review

WOW...what else can I say? I had pretty low expectations before I saw the movie based on the previews I had seen...but this exceeded those expectations...in the wrong way. It was obvious the movie was not going to be as good as the book, but I don't understand how they could butcher the story so completely. I will place most fault on the director and screen writer. The movie did not flow well, the special effects were as someone put it "laughable" (and trust me, I was laughing), the lines did not sound right, and the acting was too intense (therefore making it cheesy). Honestly, the whole crowd in the theater laughed at some parts because they were so poorly done (special effects for example). Don't get me started on the wardrobe...trust me, it was bad. The one scene that was well done was the baseball scene. The music throughout the movie was really good also. I have heard that whether or not you like the movie is determined on whether you have read the book or not...and how many times you have read the book. So, if you havent read the book you may like the movie. Is there any hope for New Moon? Yes, as long as they ditch the director and screen writer...and get a bigger budget for special effects.

Today's TO DO:

I have A LOT of things to do today...

- Fold the laundry that has been sitting in the hamper
for...at least four days.

- Do the laundry that I have been putting off for...a week.

- Have the downstairs TOTALLY clean

- Make the BED

- Clean all of the bathrooms

- Vacuum the carpets

- Call all customers for Thursday and Friday...and print the invoices

- Start packing stuff for NY/Hawaii

- Make and eat chocolate chip pancakes (ok, I will confess, I already did this)

- Take some pictures of the house to show peeps what it
looks like

- Do my hair (this one if for you Travis)

- Put up the Christmas decorations (consisting of
a 3 ft tree, and a Christmas sign)

So, I have to do all of these things today. I will report back tonight. Wish me luck!

Bad Hair Day

Ok, so yesterday I was pretty busy all day doing things (like cleaning our office). I didnt really ever...change from my pj's and I definately did not straighten my hair. The night before I took a shower and washed my hair, but instead of blow drying it I went to sleep with it wet...so as you can guess it did not look great. So I was in the kitchen when Travis came home from working and I came out to greet him. His face was in total shock when he saw me and he was like, "Your HAIR!" i was kind of taken aback so I asked what he was talking about. "It looks like you need a bath!" was how he replied.

I had been working all day, and all I got in thanks was his shock at my hagrid appearance. He later tried to redeem himself, but his facial expession when he saw me said it all.

Autumn in New York

On Friday we (me, Travis and Audrey) are leaving for New York. I am hoping to get there Friday night (or very early Saturday morning) because I have a full day planned. `

Breakfast: Breakfast Pizza from Nirchis (sounds gross? Well, trust me, it is delish!)

Convince Joanna to try a piece of breakfast pizza.

Play some games on the Wii and totally dominate

Lunch: Tony's Pizza or Monicotti (Best Italian restaurant Everr!!)

Shopping with the girls

Dinner: Spedies and Mom's Potato Salad (Spedies are marinated pieces of chicken served on buttered bread...unigue to my area of NY)

Entertainment: TWILIGHT MOVIE!!!

Go home and eat tons of ICE CREAM, make Oreo Truffles...

Stay up late playing games, watching TV and talking

I am soo excited to go HOME and to be with a lot of my family. Audrey is excited to, she keeps saying everyone's name over and over...she thinks that Leah will be there too.

3 Days left!!!!

Welcome Committee

The day after we moved in to our house, Travis, being a Pest Control Man, sprayed our house. The next morning we saw at least 15 dead black widows. How is that for a welcome?

I had never seen a black widow until now. This would top my "Things that Scare Me" list.

TrIcK oR tReAt

Travis sported a brown mullet wig for Halloween. He said a few people commented on it. I told him he should have pretended that it was his real hair.

I got this chicken costumer for $4 last year (gotta love Halloween clearance). Audrey loves wearing, and it kept her nice and warm.


Both Audrey and Brighton were very excited to get so much candy.

I love it when they hug each other!

Carving PuPmKiNs

When we went to the pumpkin farm we all got our own pumpkins. A few days before Halloween we carved them for our family night activity.

Audrey kept throwing her pumpkin on the ground...expecting it to bounce. It didn't.I told Travis to pose for the picture...and this is what he came up with. He is too cute!
Audrey was VERY helpful when it came time to take the seeds out.

The one on the left is mine, Travis's is in the middle and Audrey's is on the right(Trav helped). Ok, so I guess you can figure out who the artist is in our family...