Sunday, December 16, 2007

Chistmas Is...

This is so cool. Check it out!


Christmas Is...

Saturday, December 15, 2007

I've Been Tagged

So I rarely reply to these tags but I like this one. Gives me a chance to spotlight my hubby. He deserves to be in the spotlight every now and then since I generally am always hogging it.

1. What is your Husbands full name?
Eric Lauritz Erickson. Dont Laugh, yes his parents love him.

2. How long have you been together as a couple?
We started dating 5 years ago in August. We will have ou 5th anniversary in March.

3. How long did you date?
2.5 months. WOW! That was fast.

4. How old is he? 35

5. Who eats more?
He is wierd that way. Sometimes he will be starving and totally gorge himself and then other times I am the one startving and he doesnt touch his food. He definitely has more self control than I.

6. Who said I love you first?
I can't really remember but I think it was me. Ya thats right because it was followed by a atunned look on his face and a "I think I love you, too." Hmmm that was convincing...

7. Who is taller?
Eric by a whole foot.

8. Who sings better?
We are both equally not Mo Tab material but we both equally enjoy singing in church and the shower.

9. Who is smarter?
Depends on what we are talking about. Politics, religion, and math? Him. Health, laundry and child-rearing? Me.

10. Who does the laundry?
I think I just answered that. I had to ban him from touching laundry, especially mine. He really tries but some things are just better left to the experts.

11. Who does the dishes?
We equally hate doing the dishes and have been know to let them pile up in the sink until they are ready to sprout legs and walk away themselves. I will generally be the one to give in and finally do them.

12. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
As we lay on the bed, he is on the right. He is my right hand man!

13. Who pays the bills?
I do. Love Quicken and online billpay. And he's the accountant.

14. Who mows the lawn?
He does. I have never mowed a lawn in my life. I am sure I could figure it out but I am glad he enjoys it. He takes care of the outside and I take care of the inside.

15. Who cooks dinner?
He really enjoys cooking and is good at it. I do fairly frequently but if I don't feel like it (like the whole 9 months of my pregnancy) he will gladly do it. Love him!

16. Who's more sensitive?
Those who know me understand that I am not easily brought to tears. I have my moments but I have a pretty tough skin. Thats not always a good thing. He also has his moments.

17. Who's more stubborn?
I think that he would say I am but he is definitely stubborn in his own quiet way.

18. Who's the first to admit when their wrong?
We're both good at that, once we get over our stubbornness. I'd say he admits it faster though, it's just that I'm right more;)

19. Who's parents do you see more?
Well, mine, unfortunately because both of his parents have passed.

20. Who proposed? Eric

21. Who drives when you are together?
90% of the time, him. Me if I am in a hurry or if its snowing (he scares me to my very soul when he drives in the snow).

22. Who has more friends?
Hmmm. Me? I just keep in touch with old friends better.

23. Who has more siblings?
Uh, me. 0ne versus 10 and counting. Yikes.

24. Where did you meet?
We found eachother on LDSSingles.com and first met on my front porch.

25. Where was your first kiss?
At my house on the couch while "watching" a movie.

26. What was the first thing you said to him?
He stared chatting with me on LDSSingles.com one evening. I cant remember everything that we said but we chatted for a couple hours until deciding to exchange numbers. The next day we talked for a while and we met a couple nights later. I was usually not so quick to give out my number or even my real name for that matter but I had a good feeling about this one.

27. Where was your first date?
He picked me up and took me to Carraba's in Orem. We sat there for a couple hours and our converation flowed so easily. We had a great time.

28. Where did you get engaged?
In the model home of the house that we were planning to buy. Yes, we looked into buying a house together before we were actually engaged. Our engagement was actually postponed slightly because my stepmom had passed away so i went out of town for a few days. So the night that we met at the model house to sign papers to have them hold our lot, he proposed to me in the living room. I know the people who live in that house now and they know that we have special memories in their living room.

29. Where did you go on your honeymoon?
Our wedding night we went to Little America in Salt Lake City. It was very nice and romantic although the next morning we went to leave and found that our car had been vandalized in their supposedly secure parking garage. That morning we met our family at IHOP for breakfast (wierd). And then we headed to California to go on a cruise. Perfect Honeymoon!

30. If you could change anything about it what would it be?
Not much. it worked out pretty well other than the vandalism.

31. Who wears the pants in your marriage?
I would have to say that Eric lets me wear the pants happily. He knows I need that.

Week in Review

Since I have returned to work, I will admit I have not been able to maintain my blog addiction. I can feel myself going through withdrawls. So I will have to commit to a minimum of one visit/entry per week. Sort of a "week in review" thing. That way this becomes more of journal for not only anyone who may be blog stalking me but also myself (since I am terrible at actually keeping a journal). So here goes:
Last week marked the thirteenth week since Camerons arrival AND my return to work. Bummer. My first day back was rough. Overwhelming because I felt to out of the loop and sad because my babys are both at daycare. We have a wonderful daycare lady which I am so grateful for. That makes it much easier to deal with. Well I am finally feeling back in the loop and not so worried about how things would work out. I am a worry wart.

Last Thursday we had Erics Company Party. It was at the Wells Fargo Building downtown which was very nice but as parties go, we ate, chatted for a minute or two and dashed out before the real partying began (had to get home to the babysitter). We also went to see the Kurt Bestor Concert on Saturday night. Another babysitter, another freezing night downtown. We ate at this little Italian place called Cafe Molise which was the type of place that you dont take kids to and you dont wear jeans to. So the server was telling us the specials for the night and she mentioned this salmon dish that sounded REALLY good. I looked over the menu and saw that, as these sort of places go, the average price per plate was about $18. Not TGIFridays but not the end of the world either so I figured the salmon was about that (I didnt ask, thought that would be tacky). So I ordered the salmon, and it was really good. Tiny but very good. Nice meal overall. So we get the bill...AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! The salmon was $30. What the $%!@&#? I could not believe it. I am a self admittedly cheap person. Generally I do not splurge unless totally necessary. I wont even let my husband buy me flowers and most anything I have that is brand name came from eBay. So the $69 bill was painful. Thats a gas bill or 5 cans of formula or 3 months worth of diapers. Whew!! Had to get that off my chest.

Luckily, Kurt Bestor, as always was wonderful. We have made this a holday tradition and I love it because it really helps get my into the holiday mood. Thats been hard to find this year. If you have not heard of him, check him out HERE. You will fall in love with his music.

This week we went to my newly married brothers little apartment and had a little family get together with them. They invisted us to their neighbors house for an actual train ride around their property. These people actually have a train track built into their property with a mini train that people can ride on. Every holiday they dress up the path to fit the season and Christmas, you can guess, it was the POLAR EXPRESS. It was soooo fun and the kids loved it. We actually made one stop at the "North Pole" (Someones house) and went inside Santas workshop and saw Santa. They had the inside of this palce all decked out to actually look like a workshop. It was so cool. And sure enough, Santa was there sitting on his big chair waiting for the little ones. My neice Abby, Paige, and Braiden were elated to see the big jolly man. They all took their turns with him and then we continues our train ride. That was a fun time. It was very cold but very fun.








We also had my company party this week. It was at Hidden Valley Country Club and was pretty nice. They actually did somthing that you rarely see happen at company functions and they prayed before serving the food (only in Utah). Also the CEO had asked 6 people to get up and talk about what the holidays meant to them. It was like testimony meeting but it was so nice to actually have a Holiday Party be about the holidays and not about next years goal for the company. I love the company I work for. They are very family oriented and assure that our lives are about our families and not our dedication to the company. I am really lucky to be part of it.


Thursday we enjoyed a quiet night at home and Friday, my sister offered to babysit so Eric and I went to see a movie, which we rarely do anymore. We saw I am Legend with Will Smith. All I have to say is: Yikes! Frieky! I wont spoil it for you but it was intense and unexpected. Pretty good. So thats it in nutshell. Only 10 more days till Christmas. Yeah....better get the shopping done!









Tuesday, December 11, 2007

I Love this!

A Mommys letter to SANTA

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor and sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:
I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store. I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.
If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music, a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals, and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.
On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools. I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog. If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.
If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is calling and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always, MOM...

P.S. One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!!

Last week we had the first real big snow of the season. Since then we have had even more but its always interesting to see how the world seems to change and everyones attitudes seem to change with the weather, including my own. Last week also marked my first week back to work after having Cameron so I have had to adjust and it has been a little hard to get into the spirit of the season.

It never fails that the first day that it really snows, there are hundreds of accidents and people driving like they have never seen snow before. Probably many of them havent but for the most part, safe snow driving skils are not something that should be forgotten in a matter of a year. Nevertheless, you always see cars sliding all over the roads and stuck in snow banks.
I think that, in many ways, can be compared to how we tend to forget, in a matter of months, what the Christmas season is all about and the feelings of togetherness and appreciation for eachother that it brings. I am always reminded over the holidays how grateful i am for a great family, a wonderful husband, beautiful, healthy kids, a nice, warm, house to keep my kids safe in, a good stable job, and of course the gospel and the guidance that it gives us.

There couldnt be a more appropriate time to be grateful for all those things, I just wish that I
was better about remembering them during the not so festive times of the year when its harder to remember our blessings. So we broke out the Christmas tree, artificial one, of course, and spent an evening dolling up the house in true holiday fashion.
I love the snow, even though I am a California girl at heart and will always miss the beach and the sun . Utah has been so good to me, I have to remind myself that the BEST times of my life have been here.
When I went outside to take the picture of our house covered with snow I took one step onto the walk and landed, boom, right on my rear end. I have the bruise to prove it. Paige wanted me to also take a picture of HER house in the snow.


Braiden and Paige wasted no time in breaking out the winter apparel and going sledding down our drive way. They love getting all bundled up even though its really not that cold. I mean this it utah. Not Minnesota. Its a good thing they did becuase within 2 days the snow was melted away. Paige looks so cute with her giant pink snow boots. They crack me up.



Saturday, December 01, 2007



Look at this handsome dude. This is Braidens 3rd grade school pic. He has a great smile, don't he?