this was an awesome and hard weekend.

ya know how you kinda anticipate family hangout weekends but then they're also kinda stressful too? (i.e. packing, traveling, planning, timing, spending etc.) then on top of that add a friggin nasty cold that all 3 of us got. like seriously thursday night it all hit us - one of those achy, nauseous, super-congested, no-energy, hate-everyone-around-you colds (hmm...maybe it was the flu...) - and we had to head out friday to spend time with my family. which was great, but not as fun when you're miserably sick and all you want to do is sleep.

but saturday we had our family picture taken - part of the reason my parents drove up to utah because this momentous occasion only happens every 4 years - and none of the babies cried, penny and katelyn even smiled! hooray! then saturday night we went and saw my cousin erin play the lead in evita. i had doped myself up really good with cold meds by that point so it was fun to watch (i LOVE going to plays) and she was awesome!

then on sunday - which i consider the best day of the weekend + we all were feeling so much better - my sister made delicioso crepes with fruit and nutella that morning and we watched the first half of general conference (aka big mormon meeting with lots of talks from the apostles and other men and women of our church, if you're not familiar...) then we dropped max and penny off at baby-sitters and packed up and got to attend the sunday afternoon session! i love going to temple square - it's so beautiful and peaceful (despite the lovely protestors...) and it was very cool to watch conference live. the tabernacle choir was so beautiful to listen to, so full and pretty. i think my favorite part was the intermediate hymn where everyone (all 20,000) stood and sang together with the choir. religious song or not, that's always something that's cool to be a part of. i'm not gonna bore you with any more details so here's some pictures.

in temple square. it was cold and rainy that day but the temple and the grounds were still really beautiful.


in front of the salt lake city temple.


sitting in our seats, waiting for the session to start.


yes, i realize this is a cheesey picture but it was so cool to be in the same room with all of them!
(we were allowed to take pictures before the broadcast started).


and to top it all off, my aunt margo (aka martha stewart) made a big turkey dinner that night for all of us.
it's always good to see the fam but cripes, i'm tired.

splish splash, i was taking a bath...

...in the kitchen sink.


sometimes i get lazy and don't feel like bathing penny in the bathtub. it's so much quicker to fill up a little sink with water and to bathe her at waist-level. i think of it as a time-saver but then again i do spend 5 minutes scrubbing that sink before i sit my baby's bum in it. since she won't fit in the sink much longer, i might as well take advantage, right?

oh man, i love that look on her face.

cache county fair

here's some less-than-good-quality pictures of us attending the cache county fair about a month ago. i LOVE fairs - farmer's markets, carnivals, festivals - you name it i love it. there's just something about walking around, people watching, eating fair food and checking out the booths that i really enjoy. probably why i signed up to do a booth for the farmer's market here in logan and i'm so glad i did. the market ends october 17th and i'm sad but kinda glad too because it's a tad stressful to make sure you have enough stuff to sell each time and then make sure to document any new stuff you made for the etsy shops because if someone buys it at the market and you didn't take pictures then you have to make it all over again for the etsy shops...i realize this is self-imposed stress and a completely uneccessary componant of stress in my life but...i love it.

sorry i'm rambling, here's the pictures. oh and i finally figured out how to post large pictures - thanks photobucket.

two cows. (i think they're boyfriend/girlfriend.)


paul with a cow. (our camera was being weird and spotty).


penny with some baby cows. (see how blurry her hand is? that means she's excited...)


me and penny with some stinky sheep.


jumping back because the stinky sheep tried to get his stink on me.


sorry these pics were such crappy quality. i'll do better next time...

penny's 1st birthday party!

it really was so fun. my sister lana was so nice to let us use her house for penny's party - we played a little game, had some yummy cake, and opened prezzies. i really loved organizing her little party and seeing her play with her new toys - she was so spoiled with tons of gifts! all in all i'd say penny had a terrific time...even though she won't remember a thing. :)

the birthday girl!


after everybody arrived we played a very sophisticated party game: "pin the hairclip on the penny!" it was blind-folded hilarity and joyness. (in case you're wondering where i got that ginormous picture of penny, i took a picture to kinko's and they blew it up for me, it was 7 times cheaper in black and white).


the cake! i'd never decorated a cake before and i wasn't going for anything fancy...but it actually turned out exactly how i planned it in my head and i luuved it! i just wanted some pink filigree on a light green background (although the piping was kinda sloppy...oh well). and it was chocolate inside, of course. i'm such a chocolate-head.


opening prezzies. i think she loved the bows more than the presents themselves.

giving her new toys a test run. (i think she's a tad suspicious of that chubby hand belonging to a certain jealous cousin named max...)

jordan was very excited to be in attendance... (sorry i didn't get pics of everybody that was there.)


all of the guests received a goody bag complete with candy and flarp - a delightful gooey putty substance that makes fart sounds, modeled here by my little brother derek.


with our one-year old! we love her so much!

happy birthday penny!

since my baby turns one today i thought it would be fun to post all her month pictures. i didn't really take official month pictures in the beginning (you'd think i was recovering from something...) so i just chose my favorites for the first 3 months.

minutes old!

one week

6 weeks (ha)

2 months

3 months (with santa larsen)

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

we're having a rockin' birthday party for penny tomorrow at my sister's house in lehi (because our apartment is tiny and most of our family and friends live...not in logan). i'm gonna try my hand at decorating a cake...we'll see how that turns out. it's been fun planning a little party - it makes me excited for more birthday parties to come!

happy birthday pen-pen! i love you!

happy birthday paul!

sorry...it's a few days late. paul turned 29 on friday and i was crazy busy getting ready to go out of town to visit paul's parents and paul's sister kenna who flew in from new mexico with her new baby, madeleine. it was fun to see them! i always plan on taking pictures for events like these but - and i'm sure i'm not alone - i always forget or get lazy about it or take one or two but they're really crappy quality...

anyways, happy birthday husband! you're friggin awesome! you work so hard to support our little family and you make me laugh every day and you go to plays with me and you keep your sideburns just because i like 'em and you clean the bathroom for me and you make really good mac and cheese and i love you!

(i made him pose for this picture.)

new jellabee items!

i know this is what you've all been waiting for...new items in my jellabee etsy shop! hooraaaaaay.

i've been having way too much fun with my new ribbonwork book - i wanna put ribbon roses on everything! here's my latest creations - embellished keepsake/jewelry containers. i got all the containers at my local thrift store (thoroughly scrubbed, let me assure you) and i had such a fun time fussing over each one until i was satisfied. (click on the pics if you wanna see the details up close).





but wait there's more! here's some new clips and headbands that i've been working on and have listed in my jellabee shop as well. (i told you i wanna put ribbon roses on everything...)



LOVE this one.




this one's not a rose...but i think it's one of my favorites. it took me FOREVER - all those tiny stitches and beads.

i'm getting some pretty wicked calluses on my fingertips from all this sewing.

(you can see more pics and prices for these items HERE)