Signs

When Elly was little, we taught her some signs using a video. It turns out that she picked up a lot of signs from the video that we didn't even know. She still remembers almost all of them...

Fousand Dollars

I really can't add anything to this one.

Christmas Tree Dance

Our girl loves to dance. This particular time, there is no music to accompany her. (Usually, she requests "Hello Seattle" by Owl City.)

Christmas Tree Land

Before we went to pick out our Christmas Tree on Saturday, Brandon ran into Walmart to buy a stand for it while Elly and I stayed in the car. When she asked where he went, I told her "to get a Christmas tree stand". I guess she didn't hear me right because from then on, she kept asking to go to Christmas Tree Land. So...we went to Christmas Tree Land:



Then, we came home and put all the decorations and lights on the tree:


And, voila! It is beautiful! (And then we had a little treat.)

Fake Laugh

I don't know where she learned to do this...

Menchiladas

Please ignore her nakedness in these videos, but they were too cute not to post. I make enchiladas for dinner sometimes, and somehow in Elly's mind this Mexican favorite was turned into "MENchiladas". More reading aloud...

Thank You, Seattle!

This past weekend, Brandon flew to Seattle for a second interview and I shortly followed. My lovely sister, Keri, took great care of Elly while we were gone. So much so, that she didn't even miss us and wasn't ready for us to come home on Sunday. By the time I arrived in Seattle on Friday evening, after all Brandon's interviews, he already had a job offer. We talked all about his interviews and the offer over dinner that evening. We both felt really good about taking the job. The company put us up in a fabulous hotel and we were pampered all weekend.

When we were at BYU 5 years ago for Brandon's undergrad, we lived across the hall from two of our very best neighbor-friends, Billie and Eric. They now live in the Seattle area, so we were thrilled that we got to spend some of the day with them (we haven't seen them in over 3 years). First we had lunch right by the pier and it was delightful, then we went on to the Seattle Center where we entered the Experience Music Project. The best way I can think of to describe it is a rock music museum and hall of fame. Brandon loved every minute of it.


Then, we said goodbye to our friends (not knowing when we'd see them again since by the time we move to Seattle, they will be gone to Cleveland). Brandon and I headed to the Space Needle. Niether of us had been to Seattle before and we were excited to ride to the top. It did remind us of being at the top of the Empire State Building a little...but with more mountains and water around and a lot less people and huge buildings. Anyway, it was a fantastic view as we caught the elevator just in time for a fabulous sunset.





Before leaving the city, we stopped at Pike Place Market, the amazing fresh food and goods market down by the water. We picked up some souvenirs and caught a little taste of the famous fish throwers. That night we had yet another wonderful dinner on the company's dime and headed back to our hotel...we were exhausted. In the morning, we found the LDS ward that was closest to us and made it to sacrament meeting early (it's amazing how the lack of a 2-year-old speeds things up). We sadly drove to the airport wishing we had more time in our new favorite city. I think it's a good sign when you are sad to leave the city you will be moving to in the near future. Seattle gave us beautiful weather, excellent food, and the best thing of all...a want for more...Seattle. But, we owe everything to our new favorite company, of course. Thank you:

We will be heading to Seattle in the middle of May and coming back to Cougartown at the beginning of August. So...now's a great time to make a trip to Seattle if you've never been. Come and visit us! And maybe you'll see Mount Rainier on your way out of Seattle on the plane like we did:

(I didn't actually take this picture, I pulled it off the internets, ok? But, it is really that beautiful!)

Guess What?

The MBA program is two years, and in between those years (in the summer) students usually do a work internship for three months. Brandon just accepted an offer for an internship outside of Utah. I'll give more details later, but here's a little hint as to where we will be living next summer:

Click the link. (watch your volume)

Family Photos!

A friend of ours from the MBA program took these for us a few weeks ago. Thanks, Candida!

Fall Fun

A few weeks ago, we went to a duck pond to feed the ducks and get some good fall photos before it freezes. It was game day, so of course we were clad in our BYU Blue! If Elly sees either of us wear our BYU shirts, she has to go find hers and wants to put it on. I originally had a pink shirt for her with BYU in blue on it...but once she saw us wearing blue, she wouldn't have anything to do with the pink one. We are so happy to be in Provo for this season of our lives. We love our apartment building and all the friends we've made there and in the MBA program. We are grateful to be here right now. I'm so impressed with Brandon and all the hard work he's doing for school. He's gone all day, then comes home and does homework most of the night. But, he always makes time to eat dinner with us, play with Elly and is always home to put Elly to bed every night. He's so happy in the program and he's loving what he's doing with his time. (It's great for me to have a husband who is so happy and loves what he does.) Elly has so many friends and she loves going to school to see Daddy and bring him lunch. I have a great group of friends who I can count on for almost anything (one of them even offered to watch Elly all weekend while we go to Seattle!) We are just really happy and are trying to appreciate every minute!

Elly's Birthday!

For Elly's 2nd birthday, we met the family at the Farm at Thanksgiving Point. Elly loves the animals and couldn't get enough of the pony ride. My family was great to come down and meet us there and I think everyone had fun. Then, it was on to...The Party!




Our lovely Neighbor/Friends stopped by for cupcakes and ice cream...


Keri and I made these fantastic cupcakes using the book "Hello Cupcake!" as a guide. We definitely did our own thing on most of them, though. Also, I made this little train for them to ride in:

Elly displaying one of her much-loved gifts:

By the way, when your mom is a photographer and takes too many pictures of you altogether...this is what you do when she calls your name:


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BUBBUSH!

Halloween

Our little ladybug had a great time on Halloween. She followed our little neighbor girls around for a few doors, but then when she figured out what was going on, she ran right up to the doors and knocked as hard as she could. This is the face she gives when we say smile, it's pretty darn adorable.



These are the kids in our complex who trick-or-treated with us:


These are the hard-core rockers who came to our Ward's Halloween party that night:


Happy Halloween!

Talking to a bird...

So, I'm unloading my groceries after shopping at Costco one day and I hear Elly talking to someone. I tried to get her to replicate the conversation for the camera, but nothing will ever be as funny as the original. She was honestly having a conversation with this bird...




By the way...I'm pretty sure she's saying "come on, silly goose!"

All Grown Up

Each time we go to the Provo Library, Elly brings her backpack full of books to return and we fill it with new ones. She loves the library- and more than once, I have carried her out in tears because she didn't want to leave. But, look how adorable she is with her backpack!

Hiking the "Y"!

We never did it when we were here for Brandon's undergrad. So, we really wanted to this time around. It was absolutely beautiful one Saturday morning, so we packed Elly into the backpack and Brandon hauled her all the way up that huge mountain. (I volunteered to wear the backpack on the way down, but Brandon insisted he do it again. It was pretty dang heavy. She's no feather, our little Bubbush.)




What a beautiful view! Look how happy Elly is to be there! (She had just woken up, actually.)

Happy Birthday...to me!

This was waiting for me when I woke up on my birthday morning, taped to my front windows by my lovely next door neighbor, Monica. Thanks, Monica! Everyone should have a sign like this on their birthday (and for a week after, cause I just took it down yesterday!):


My amazing sister, Keri, and my generous mom threw me a fantastic birthday party with as many people in the Salt Lake area who they could find (and who could come). It was so great to see old friends again.

High school peeps: Amy Richards Forsyth, (me), Rachel Roos Albertsen, Rob Ferre, Brit Cannon, and Tim Jaggi. (Not pictured: Ivey Lloyd Mitchell and Liz Gardner Jaggi)





Our dear friends from the mission: Lincoln and Anna Hale and Linc II and Baby Shiloh.





My above mentioned amazing sister, Keri.




More mission friends and two of my favorite companions: Selena Wing Robins and Hilary Black.


There were more people that I didn't get a picture of. Thank you everyone for coming. The party had an Asian theme with food from one of my favorite restaurants, Pei Wei. There were yummy desserts, but most of all good company and conversation. I'm so excited that we are all adults now and get to have adult conversations instead of things we used to talk about like "who is asking you to the dance?" and "what if my parents don't let me go on the senior trip?". It was a great night and I'm thrilled to be 30! And to everyone else who has recently or will shortly turn 30, I say: "Get on board! 30 isn't old. It's super fun. And also...it's not that different than 29. So, stop complaining about it."

Thank you.