Poliaks Love Story

Halloween?

2010-10-31T20:27:00.000-07:00

So... Here I am on my favorite day of the year watching CSI Las Vegas reruns and sticking bath letters all over Nyla. I have to admit watching Nyla squeal with laughter trying to get the sticky foam off her chest is entertainment enough for this goulish girl gone mom. However, CSI never disappoints when it comes to setting a creepy atmosphere so I guess I am still able to feel that all too loved uneasy, turn on all the lights as I walk around the house feeling. So not all is lost.

Over the River and Through the Woods

2010-09-14T10:53:00.000-07:00

Nyla went to see Grandma for Mother's Day this year. The ride there was something I may never do again they way I did it. Cadence and I both decided to drive there alone (with no husbands), with our babies together in the back seat. What is suppose to be a 5 1/2 hour drive ended up being a 9 hour drive. When one baby was sleeping, the other was crying, hungry, or needed to eat. Overall, we made it there alive and had great timebut it literally felt like we had to go over the river and through the woods to get there.. The babies loved seeing their grandma and grandpa and great auntie Glo. We went for a bike ride through Ogden River Parkway and just relaxed together. Not a long stay but worth it.

These are Melissa's kids (Mike's daughter). They are Nyla's cousins Scotland, Jackson, & Kierra. They are the goofiest kids I have ever seen. Hilarious.

Auntie Glo

My First Milestone

2010-09-14T07:11:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning and just after rocking and nursing Nyla, she shoved my finger into her mouth to feel her very first tooth! Like a tiny little dagger, there it was. Finally. She started teething when she was two months old and here she is 9 1/2 months. I can't believe my little baby is growing up so fast.

Books, Books, & More Books!

2010-09-11T18:08:00.000-07:00

Nyla has grown to LOVE books. She would rather have a basket full of books over toys any day. She is currently mastering turning the pages and sometimes telling the story the way she sees it. If we are reading a book to her, she likes to have one book in her own hands and then watching the book you are reading. Cadie and I took Whit and Nyla to the library the other day. Nyla was not going to just sit in her stroller and take being separated from the wonderful world of make believe. So we took her over to the baby section where they have a couple shelves in the corner of baby books. (You can always tell which ones they are by the disintegrated corners.) We sat her down in front of the bookshelf where she proceeds to bring each book out one by one, turn each page and point to the pictures while jabbering as loud as possible. So we had to rent her a few books of her own. The library also has donated books for sale. We were able to score a pile of baby books for $0.50. So now when Nyla wants to sit and play her with her toys by herself, she takes a book out of the bag, turns all the pages very carefully, sets it nicely behind her and moves on to do the same with the next book. This particular book is her favorite one. It is so true that babies and young kids can not tell the difference between make believe and reality. There is a picture of a baby on the first page of this counting book (picture) that every time she sees her she tries to hold her hand. She takes her tiny little fingers and tries to pry at the picture of the baby's hand until she realizes the baby is not wanting it and she moves on to the next page. So funny.

I'm so Glad When Daddy Comes Home...

2010-09-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

Glad as I can be;

Clap my hands and shout for joy,

and climb upon his knee,

put my arms around his neck,

hug him tight like this,

squeeze his cheeks then give him what?

A great big kiss!

Nyla loves when her daddy comes home from work. This little girl can hardly contain her excitement as she hysterically giggles, laughs, and climbs all over daddy like she hasn't seem him for years. Of course Avery just eats it up and loves his little monkey desperately trying to swing from his tarzan rope around his neck (his tie). She is the funnies little thing with her huge warm and greeting smile and yelling "Da Da" over and over. She can not get enough of his neck kisses and body tickles. She almost laughs herself hoarse.

I could not contain myself the other day. She could not stop saying Da Da, so after she has pooped her pants I told her she was "stinky poo poo" and then I asked her who else she knew that was stinky poo poo. She answered with an enthusiastic "Da Da!". Avery could not believe she would betray him like that! :)

Your Baby Can Read "Rant"

2010-08-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

When I was pregnant, I saw this infomercial for Your Baby Can Read. Then I surfed the forums to find that people have a love-hate relationship with this product and creator. Some either love it (mostly educators) or hate it with a passion (mostly stay at home moms). I have also talked amongst my friends and they seem to think its just "ok". But I could never figure out why they thought it was just "ok" when they had never purchased the product. The hate forums are mostly saying that the product doesn't work. There are thousands of people stating this (as well as quite a few that say it works great). I laugh because one mother wrote "I showed this to my 2 year old for 2 weeks straight and she didn't even watch it. She was completely disinterested and she showed no interest in reading after watching the videos". Hmmm. Another participant complained that the only way for this program to work is if she sits down her her little one and reads all the books and does all the flash cards on a regular basis with her as well as watching the videos. She wanted her money back. What is wrong with my generation? Of course you have to do it ALL on a regular basis. Another forum writer wrote about how the program is nothing more than simple word recognition and that she too tried to return it. Duh. I had not idea that it was such a controversy to teach our kids how to read. I thought word recognition and repetition IS how we learn to read. Sometimes I feel like people just want the easiest route for parenting. I am not a huge fan of Dr. Laura but I would have to agree with her when she says "If you can't raise them, then don't have them". I understand that peoples lives get busy and difficult, especially with kids. But I am hard pressed to believe that you don't have time to teach your child how to read but you do have time to go on the internet and find a site to complain about having to do it.

Back to Your Baby Can Read. I love it so far. I actually only have to videos at the present time and I am in the market for the rest of the program. The videos are the same thing over and over. Songs, words games, words and actions, etc. It is not a miracle product by any means. Its actually an ingenious program of dvds, books, and flash cards. Very simple, clean, and easy to do. Words then actions and a little bit of music. What's not to like.

Boon Squirt

2010-08-17T16:45:00.000-07:00

I don't know why this is but when I first had Nyla (and even on through the first 6 months), I thought that I needed EVERYTHING. Whenever I came upon a situation that would call for something to make it easier to do, I would have all these ideas pop into my head about what I could either invent or purchase. Most of the time it was inventions of course and then a little googling would reveal that someone had stolen my idea and made millions. It always seems to go that way. Anywho, the boon squirt was just such an invention. As I was feeding Nyla one day, I just couldn't seem to get the food shoveled into her mouth fast enough. Who knew that once babies discovered there is more to life that gross warm milk and a chewy nipple, that anything on a spoon tastes exactly like birthday cake. So here I was with Nyla and her liquid carrots, literally trying to figure out how to just pure the bowl down her throat (not to mention that my fat fingers can only grip a teeny tiny spoon for so long), that the idea came to me. A spoon with a food filled handle!! Cha Ching. Shortly thereafter, my two (more seasoned with such fiascoes) sister-in-laws told me there was a such a thing as a feeding spoon. So I set out on my treasure hunt, and what do you know, like a beacon of light there it was right in my local target baby feeding isle. DANG YOU BOON. You are always stealing my ideas! Of course, being the bargain shopper that I am, I did not settle for target. Nope. I did a thorough search for the cheapest one on the block. drugstore.com or Burlington Coats. The funny things is, I used this for weeks before I realized that it really is only good for traveling. It just adds one more step to my busy day or having to take the food out of the container and put it in another container. Blah. Oh well, it was awesome for our vacation.

Grandmother

2010-05-31T11:47:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about my grandmother today. She died February 14, 2008. What a great day to be reunited with those you love. My grandmother is amazing. We used to get in the car and travel the 2000 miles every other summer to see her and our cousins. I remember she always had candy for her grandkids set out so we could grab and run at anytime. She was an amazing cook as well. I loved her banana nilla wafer pudding. The best. Our summers in Hartsville were filled with warm nights, softball days, and family packed reunions from the farm (uncle callis) to a place picked somewhere close where we could all laugh and play for hours. There was always some new 10th cousin 3 times removed to meet and play with. But at the end of each day, grandmothers house was were I wanted to be. It was small and comfortable, familiar and inviting. Grandmothers house always smelled so good like a faint smell of her quick perfume or hairspray on a head full of curls before running out the door. She always used to ask me if all her curls were place as she held up her white flowery handheld mirror to look at the back of her hair in her bedroom mirror. I would always tell her how beautiful she looks and I always admired her for never leaving the house without looking her very best. My grandmothers hugs were always so soft and felt like a warm homemade afgan wrappped from head to toe. She never forgot a birthday. Each of her 19 grandkids were never forgotten and were guaranteed to receive a birthday card in the mail with a hand written letter or note about how great they are and how much she loves and misses them. Each one is a saved treasure of mine as if they are gold. I often go into my treasure box and escape into her words and her memory. I can not wait until I get to be wrapped in her arms again and smell that sweet perfume and have her ask me if her curls are all in place. I hope each day that she is proud of me and helps me to choose the way back to her. I love you grandma. You are missed.

Easter and Other Firsts

2010-05-17T09:27:00.000-07:00

For Easter this year, we went over to Avery's brother's house and watched Nyla's cousins and their neighbor friends kids look for easter treats throughout each front yard. Vegas sucks in this way because there are literally no yards to play in. The front yards are larger than the backyards and consist of MAYBE 15 square feet and that is if you are lucky. Anywho, Nyla went and watched all the kids run around without her. She didn't get to wear her Easter dress because it was too cold. So I took the opportunity to dress her up the day before. We did get to watch conference with some or Desiree's friends and it was nice to just relax and feel the spirit. Nyla slept through conference just like her Mommy used to.

I took Nyla to the park for the first time a few weeks ago. We went with Shanna, Sierra, & Aspen. Shanna insisted that we put Nyla in the swing and see how she likes it. From that face, assumed she loved it. That is the biggest smile I have ever seen on her. I guess I should take her out more often.

Nyla has decided that her Tummy Time mat is too slippery to lay on. She gets frustrated because she can't get her feet to grip the ground. She has decided the toys are useful though so she is going to use it to lift weights.

Let's Rewind

2010-05-05T20:50:00.000-07:00

It has been quite some time since I posted anything on here. There is so much I need to catch up on. I think about it all the time. Nyla is growing so fast; it is difficult to keep up with her. I wish I had more time to keep a journal of every little cute things she does. I guess blogging will have to do. At least it is somewhat a history of things anyway and what better way than to share it will all the people I love the most!

Let's rewind:

January 2010: Everyone knows how much Avery LOVES Star Wars right. I don't even think LOVES is a strong enough word. Anyway, when Nyla was about 1 month old, she started crying at about 5pm everyday for no apparent reason. I guess this is fairly normal. One night, I was especially busy with homework and asked Avery to take her and try to comfort her. He takes her downstairs where he is preparing some dinner and starting a movie...you guessed it...Star Wars, da.da.da STAR WARS, da.da.da-Da! Hilariously enough, Nyla was having one her screaming fits until the moment when the London Phil Harmonic fills our family room from wall to wall on every single surround sound speaker. She immediatly stops crying and stares at the TV just in time for Avery to bust up laughing and exclaim to her "Oh, I see you are a fan already!" (his heart palpitates) A true Poliak from the very get go.

February 2010: Something else that is funny about Nyla: She has to stretch every morning. Seriously. I keep her in a swaddler to keep her arms from disturbing her. Otherwise, she gets frustrated at whoever's arms keep wacking her in the face while she is trying to sleep. So, each time I undo the swaddler, she raises her arms WAAAAy above her head and stretches her little legs, toes pointing as far as she can point. She has actually gotten to the point where if you say "streeeeetch" to her, she will raise her arms above her head and then look at you like "ok, I'll do it but I already did my stretches for the day". So cute and soooo smart.

Nyla's Blessing

Avery gave the most amazing, sweet blessing to Nyla on Valentines Day 2010. I wish I could record things like that. Nyla was so serene afterwards that she fell asleep in my arms; something she never did! She wore the same blessing dress that I was blessed in and it fit her perfectly. She looked like a little angel. However, her head is so small and tiny, that her headband made her look like Rambo. :) Mine and Avery's entire family was there to see her. It was so nice to have them all in one place and to share in something so special.

"Hi"

March 2010: Nyla's first word. I laugh because, she doesn't do it very often but I could have swore she said "Hi". The little spit coming out of her mouth makes it that much more funny.

Holding Hands

April 2010: Nyla has started to grab and touch everything. Sometimes, if she can't grab it, she is just happy to touch and feel it. Whether it be with her hands or her feet, she wants to know what everything feels like. The walls, the couch, the paper sitting next to you. One afternoon while Cadie and Whit were over visiting, we sat the babies up right facing each other. Nyla was very curious about chubby little Whit. She sat there for a few seconds before reaching out for him. Out of everything she could have grabbed on him, she took his tiny hand in hers and just held it for about 15 seconds. It was the cutest thing ever. I wish I had had my camera handy.

Nyla Irene Poliak

2009-12-17T14:40:00.000-08:00

Born December 3, 2009

5 lbs 10 oz. 18 inches

Fat Pics & Pregnancy Update

2009-11-19T11:54:00.001-08:00

27 Weeks & 29 Weeks
Ok so not much is showing but you can tell I am getting fat. Especially in my face. I am pretty sure my face is the pregnancy and my stomach is just there for convenience.

30 Weeks. Not much changed except my hideous complexion and my new pooh bear cheeks.

33 Weeks. So you knew Avery could not go this whole time and resist taking naked pictures. I left out the porn shots. They are worth money and I don't need those porn companies knocking on my door making offers... seeings how I am so hot right now.

37 Weeks. Oh..there she is! She finally decided to show up mmmmbout 3 weeks before the due date. I was tempted to crop my face out of this one but I guess it can be recorded that pregnancy makes some people hideous for a second. I actually gave up trying to look remotely decent. I stopped looking in the mirror about a week ago. So hopefully these are the last pregnancy pics I will take. I am also hoping to deliver early as she has dropped completely into my pelvic girdle and is making it difficult to walk around. Doc said the baby's head is "one knuckle" in!!! Yikes. Does that mean she can just swim out with the breakage of my water? I've seen it on TV and TV never lies.

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In all seriousness, we are getting pretty excited and nervous at the same time. I actually think the anxiety about labor has settled in. Is there a drug that makes it so you can leave your body and then be able to stand in the room and become one of the cheerleaders? Kinda like an out of body experience? Oh...that's right, its called CRACK. Ok, I guess I will settle for the epidural martini with a local skewer to garnish. This is not an after dinner party people! This is life in it's most gruesome beauty.

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Wish us luck! (or at least me because we all know Avery will be in the corner with his DS volume muted and giving me the courteous "you're doing great baby, keep it up. Just let me know when I can cut the 'unbiblical' cord.") ;) I LOVE YOU MORE THAN YOU WILL EVER KNOW AVERY!

IT'S A GIRL!!!

2009-07-22T13:01:00.000-07:00

Ok. So her face is showing here. Look at the picture with your head tilted to the right. Or imagine turning the picture one position counterclockwise. Her chin is pointing towards the left side of the picture and her forehead is pointing towards the right side. THERE SHE IS! She was moving so much, it was hard to get a clear picture of her. But I did see her face this time. She also kept putting her little hands and arms in front of her face and refused to move them. Then she wrapped her legs up toward the ultrasound wand and started kicking outward. It was almost like she was so irritated that we were there.

So, this one actually looks human. At least from this side shot. Look at her little hand. We had a really hard time seeing what gender she was because she kept putting her leg and foot over the image below. Our tech had to bounce her around to get the shot. She eventually started kicking the annoying bumping thing back. It was so cute. We could see the extension of her knee and calf as it swung back. But at last we got the see the two little slits she was trying so desperately to keep private. Poor baby.

There it is in all its glory!

Sitting On Top of the World with Your Legs Hangin Free

2009-06-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Avery!!!

Avery & Seth went to Disney Land for Avery's birthday this year. Every kid's dream come true.

And of course they came back with a huge bag of candy.

...and couldn't leave there without first making a sand castle.

Love those boys!

Oh!

First Ultrasound

2009-06-03T12:33:00.000-07:00

Today we saw our baby for the first time! I have seen plenty of these black & white ultrasound photos and have always thought they all looked the same...until now. This one is the cutest one ever. Ok, ok so to everyone else it probably just looks like some big headed creature surrounded by some white stuff and a few blurry lines. But to me...ok it looks like an alien, a cute alien.

(Click on pic to make it bigger)

The balls could still be in there! They might not have dropped yet. We don't know for sure.

Ha Ha! The tongue is sticking out right there. Already has attitude. We know its a Watson!

These are the Poliak genes. Kidding Avery. You know you're sexy.

See how cute that little foot is. Ohhh!

Healthy nasal structure.

Look at those little hands.

PREGGERS!

2009-04-18T14:10:00.001-07:00

Avery and I are proud to announce that a new addition will be joining us in December! Yeah! We are so excited and can't wait for our family to continue to grow!!

1 Year Coming Up :)

2009-04-16T09:39:00.000-07:00

A year is about to come up soon and I remember what I read and I strive to apply daily. My dear wife Molliana; One year ago, the strong feelings of love I have for you. Only when we love God above all others, as the Savior taught, will we be capable of offering pure, Christlike love to our companions for all eternity. / Quoted from a Union of Love!

Parmesan Pancakes

2009-02-01T16:05:00.000-08:00

Yes, this can be done and they are AMAZING! I made them yesterday for breaky.

First make the pancake mix. (If you don't want to make your own, you can use premix)

1 egg
1 C Flour
3/4 C Milk
1 TBS Sugar
2 TBS Veg Oil
1 TBS Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt

Whisk it all together until there are no lumps. (This recipe makes 2 lrg pancakes)

Second, using FRESH parmesan, slice a few thin pieces and set aside.

Then heat up your pan and spray with non-stick. Pour about 1/2 the amount of pancake mix you want into pan and place parmesan pieces on top of batter in pan. Pour the remaining amount of pancake mixture you desire over parmesan until covered. Wait for batter to form bubbles all over the surface, then flip pancake. The parm should remain inside of pancake. Cook both sides of pancake until golden brown. Place on serving plate and smother with butter. No need for syrup, its not that kind of pancake. Enjoy.

Grateful & Happy Birthday

2008-12-20T07:51:00.000-08:00

To Molli & Her Family,

I am grateful for having my best friend, my lover, my wife Molli, in my life. I love her so. Molli is amazing. What a wonderful gift I have received from her. Molli’s love has made the most important impact on my life. Who has found a side of me I did not know was there. Molli does not try to change me, what she may think I should become but instead, nurtures what I have that made her fall in love with me in the first place and above all, Molli is honest. I love you Molli. I am grateful for Molli’s Parents, you did well raising such a beautiful person inside and out. I can’t thank you enough. I am grateful for heavenly father giving me this angel! Happy Birthday today Molli!

German Pancakes - So Easy a Caveman Could Do it

2008-12-19T17:37:00.000-08:00

Mom used to make these for us on Christmas mornings. If we are lucky, we might get them this christmas.

6 Eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 C milk
4 TBS butter/unsalted
1 C flour

Put it all in a blender and blend until smooth. Do not use mixer because your batter will be lumpy. (unless you want to sift your flour in slowly while mixing)

Preheat oven to 400*. Place an extra TBS of butter in a baking pan, large skillet, or pie tin and melt in preheating oven. When the butter is all melted, remove from oven and pour batter into pan. Place in oven for 20 min or until edges have risen and turned golden brown. Remove and sqeeze lemon juice and powdered sugar over top and serve. You can also serve with favorite syrup as well, but I love it with just the lemon and powdered sugar.

So yummy!

Danny Gans

2008-12-13T13:45:00.000-08:00

So we went to see Danny Gans a few weeks ago. I did not know he had received Entertainer of the Year for the past 10 years before we went. His show would portray why. Some say the show is overdone as far as the advertising but I really thought it was great. He entertains the older crowd and the younger generations by touching base with all the BIGs throughout history. His show will make you laugh, cry, cheer, all at once. Avery and I had a great time trying to pick out all the voices. Seeings how we are pretty young, there were some we did not know but if you looked aroud the room, everyone above the age of 50 was smiling ear to ear.

I found this link of some of his voices that you can download for your personal voicemail boxes. Have a listen. He is pretty funny.

http://www.dannygans.com/greetings.htm

Homemade Pizza

2008-12-08T16:15:00.000-08:00

Pizza Dough (hand tossed):

1 packet of yeast (1 TBS)
1/4 C lukewarm water
3 C AP flour
1 tsp salt
1 C lukewarm water
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 TBS granulated sugar
1 TBS olive oil

Mix together yeast and 1/4 C warm water. Let sit and become foamy about 5 min. In a seperate mixer, combine flour, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and sugar. Using the dough paddle, mix on medium speed until dough crawls up paddle. Mix 1 C warm water with foamy yeast mix. Leave dough on medium speed while pouring yeast mixture onto dough. When dough forms a ball remove to freshly floured surface. (If dough does not form a ball, add one tsp of water at time until it does) Flour your own hands and kneed dough for about 5 min. In a large bowl, add olive oil and make sure it coats all sides and bottom. Roll dough into a ball and place in middle of bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in warm dry area. Dough should rise to double its original size in about an hour.

After dough rises, place back on floured surface and kneed again. Dough can be used right away or wrapped in plastic and stored in refridgerator or freezer until use.

How to hand toss pizza dough: Start with a small ball of dough about twice the size of your fist. Flatten the ball with your hands and start stretching the edges until you have a frisbee size flat bread. Place your hands in a fist side by side under the frisbee letting the dough wrap down the sides of your fists. While rotating your fists around each other, toss the dough in the air creating a centripical motion on the dough in the air. Catch with the tops of your fists so as not to poke a hole in your dough. Repeat 6-7 times. Place round dough on a greased and floured pizza baking sheet. Stretch dough edges out as far as possible to fill baking sheet. Make the dough as flat as possible. Lightly brush the edges of the dough with olive oil, add sauce and desired toppings and bake at 450* until top of pizza starts turning golden brown then remove from heat.

Awesome Homemade Pizza Sauce:

Combine and mix the following in a med sauce pan-
28 oz can tomato paste
1 crushed garlic clove
1 TBS olive oil
Dried basil, chervil, and tarragon
1/4 tsp chili powder
Dash of cayenne
Fresh ground pepper & ground sea salt to taste

Bring it all to a boil. Cool and serve or use whenever.

Enjoy!

Undergrad?

2008-11-15T20:05:00.000-08:00

What is an undergrad anyway? It takes a lot longer to get an undergraduate degree than it does to get a graduate degree. They should call the Masters "Post Graduate" and the Bachelors "Graduate" or "Master of the Universe" because I have never spent so much of my time and money on one thing in my life. Granted I put school off to climb the never-ending corporate latter for a company I eventually resented for seeing me as such a young, charismatic asset that they were willing to promise me the world for my first born. Of course I was unwilling to hand "it" over and ended up walking out of every restaurateurs’ dream of managing a celebrity showcase restaurant set in the heart of America’s playground. Ok, so it wasn’t in the heart but more towards the throat where it can get lodged and choke the life right out of any ambitious, vulnerable culinary graduate. After this experience, I decided that I needed to change gears and maybe choose a path that would help or educate others instead of taking their money so “The Brothers” can buy another yacht and move onto the next cash cow. So here I am, 9 years after graduating high school still two years from my “Use only to conquer the World” long coveted Bachelor. The difficult part: being a full time student during a recession is like having an extremely wrinkly dollar bill that just won’t go into the machine but you keep trying hoping that it will eventually produce the lovely granola bar, but you just end up wasting your time and now you are late to class…and still hungry. In other words, you are completely useless. Any part time job better pay $100 an hour because you are only able to work something like two or three hours a week. Plus, it better be on call, and when I say “on-call” I mean, “I will call you when I can work because it’s going to be different each day and week.” Don’t get me wrong, I know eventually this inferno they call college will pay off. But in the mean time, the amazing United States, with its bottomless pit of loans, credit, and bad mortgages has opted out of helping with such small insignificant dilemmas. So the quest for the undergrad right now actually looks like the door at the end of the hallway on the Poltergeist that stays the same distance away from you no matter how fast you run towards it. Other than all that, life is always good!! :)

Fun with Grandma in the Park

2008-11-06T15:43:00.000-08:00

TWINS!!!

A Spooktacular Day

2008-11-06T00:11:00.000-08:00

The Yucatan

2008-06-24T15:52:00.000-07:00

The Yucatan was amazing!! We stayed at this place called Xpu-Ha Palace which is a 5 diamond resort placed in the middle of an animal sanctuary. It was set right on the beach. It was the exact definition of paradise. We stayed in a bungalo style hut that was separated in. Even though everything was outdoors, we definitely were not roughing it. The resort sits ocean side but is shielded from seeing anything outside its walls with thick brush and trees. We had to search our way to the beach but loved every minute of it.

This a our bungalo. Amazing huh? These pictures do it no justice. It had to be just like Adam & Eve, except there were other people around serving us all day. I guess Adam & Eve could not say that. We also ate a lot of forbidden fruit. When we ordered fruit from room service, we expected kind of like a plate of cut fruit. No, it was whole gigantic grapes, mangoes, and papaya on steroids. We ate so many of them for breaky, lunch, & dinner. This was all inclusive which made the forbidden fruit taste even better.

Ok, so snorkeling story. There was this tiny reef inlet at the resort that people could canoe or snorkel in. It had this huge tree in the middle of it. The roots from this tree took up so much space and made the water really dark and mysterious. Avery jumped in without me and took off around this huge tree under the water. I waited until I could see him again before I jumped in. When he came back to see me, he told me that behind the tree seemed really creepy and dark and that I should go check it out. (so protective of me isn't he.) So I blew it off and told him he was just afraid. I started to search and explore around this reef and tree when all of the sudden this HUGE fish was starring me in the face. I am not kidding. He was about the size of a cow with now legs and his face was literally 2 feet from mine. I screamed in my mask and proceeded to swim backwards faster than I have ever swam in my life. By the time I got turned around I was almost walking on water. Avery was up on the dock laughing so hard. He said he has never seen anyone swim that fast in their life. I think I flew up on the dock instead of climbing up. I told him about this fish by holding my arms out as far as I could to show him the size of the beast. He totally cracked up and said I was exaggerating and there was no such thing. He was waving his hands as if to blow me off while laughing still histerically at my olympic style swimming. I told him that I was not making it up, that this thing was seriously as big as me if not bigger. My heart was still pounding from the look in the fish's eye as he swam up to me almost as if to say "Hey, what's up!" He didn't look mean but still just his mere size and stare was enough to make me pee my swimming suit and now here was Avery so beside himself with the vision of this fiasco and fictional fish story. I was just starring at him like how was I going to convince him of this thing. I told him to go in there and check it out. He said he was done but I think deep down inside he was just afraid. Just then, this guy comes around the corner and asks "Hey. did you see the Manitee in there?". I looked at Avery as his moking came to an abrupt stop. His eyes went wide and his gaze went from me to the reef. I told him I could not believe that he would believe a complete stranger over his own wife. Even though the guy informed us that they were docile and didn't mind people, Avery never got in that water again the whole trip. I still see this fish's eyes in my sleep. I was like both of us were just minding our own business and just happen to bump into each other in the dark. It was pretty funny.

The hairy legs are mine. So sexy.

This pic was taken at Xel-Ha (shell ha). It was pretty much a massively huge reef made into a snorkel, scuba dive park just behind Talum (old mayan ruins). I have never seen anything like this place in my life. It was about 10 miles in circumference and so much to do. There was cliff jumping, snuba, scuba, rope swings, tubing, swim with the dolphins, etc. I mostly just loved the beauty of it as you will never see anything this beautiful in the states. There are more pics in the album below.

We also visited one of the seven wonders of the world, Chichen Itza. Chichen Itza is a mayan ruin city. It was very educational and seeing things like this helps us whity american's gain a better appreciation for Mexico and the Mayan (Which actually is vastly different). Anyway, I can not even explain all that we visited here because there was so much of it. So if you are interested in learning more, click on this link: http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/chichen/chichen_index.html

We also went to a place called Coba, which is a mayan ruin as well, just not a city such as Chichen Itza. However, Coba has the tallest tower in the world and we actually got to climb that one. It was just like the stairmaster only hotter. Too bad my camera died. The only regret about our visit to these cities was that there were Mormon tours for each of them and we did not know. Apparently there is quite a bit of LDS history with the ancient cities of the Yucatan.

Check out our album

"Friends & Family are Nature's Masterpiece"

2008-06-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

I can not forget the most important people in my life. I owe so much to all of these and more. My family is amazing and I just want to tell them all how much I love them. The times we spend together have given my so much....anxiety? Ok, so not all the time. I actually treasure all the memories that have been freely given to me over our lifetime together. I look forward to the rest of my life and building more memories with each you. Its been an amazing journey. I love you all.

The Most Beautiful Sound

2008-06-17T01:30:00.000-07:00

I have small, faint recollections somewhere in my childhood of Daddy singing and playing his guitar. Whether he is performing or just tinkering around at home, my mind goes back to those days and I hear him singing or strumming in my memories . There really are no images with these memories, but somewhere back there is a place of music & passion as I sat and listened to him with my sisters. He sung the most beautiful song at our wedding. It was all I could do to try to hold the tears back. Actually I have a hard time even watching it now. However, he hardly sings anymore so I am glad I got it recorded even though its with an amateur camera. I thought I would share it with those of you that did not get to hear him. Bare with the sideways shot. It only lasts the first 30 seconds.

(turn it up)

The Essence of Life

2008-06-16T17:47:00.001-07:00

(Click on Sound bite in bottom left corner to hear the song)

...And the Greatest of these is Love.

2008-06-09T23:23:00.001-07:00

April 23, 2008. This was the best day of my life. It could not have been more perfect. Avery & I are so happy and life just keeps getting better. God sure knew what He was doing when He sent Avery to me, or maybe He sent me to Avery. Avery and I met in a restaurant we were both managing. I was his assistant. It was not until over a year later that we even realized how much we anticipated the time we would spend together. Whether is was a glance across the office, a shy smile and looking away, or a short undemanding brush of our hands as Avery tried to comfort me in a time of frustration. I guess dating your boss is not exactly the smartest thing for the career. But it definitely paid off. Its like a secret romance and its exactly as the books describe it. Its everything you could feel wrapped up in one package. Romantic, mysterious, clandestine, and fascinating. Its almost fictitious. So here is to the beginning of an almost puerile love affair...and a story of two lives coming together for all eternity.

The Temple...

2008-06-03T18:13:00.002-07:00

So, I guess you are suppose to read from the bottom of this blog page and scroll up as you follow the wedding story. I had so many pics, that I had to pack them into 3 videos and I still didn't even get half of them into the videos. But if you want any pic you see, just let me know which ones and I will email them to you. Michael did a great job being my professional photographer. Bargain!! Anywho, the whole wedding was amazing. Enjoy & luvs.

The Celebration of NOT BEING SINGLE ANYMORE...

2008-06-03T16:25:00.001-07:00

Ok, so this one is really short because I didn't have that many pics of the boat party. But it was super fun anyway. Thanks Michael for being so rad and gettin us all the str8-hook-up for the day before and to all that helped celebrate my tenure as a married person-wanna-be. Yep, I said it! You know bachelor & bachelorette parties are not really celebrating being single. NO ONE Celebrates that. Sure its fun and independent, and liberating at times, but...well- this is what life is all about...the next few videos. But for the time being, just check out my first one. (Don't forget to turn up the sound!)