My most wonderful time of the year

It's the time of the year when you see these same photos (but obviously better) on everyones' blogs. Because we can't resist taking photos of flowers, large monuments

and our kids.

It's cherry blossom season here in Washington.

I take the same photos every year and it's always fun to compare.

2007 and uncomfortable as new parents.

2008 and freezing cold.

2009 minus Ryan.

Placing the blame for my unsophisticated palate of late

Lately, the things that make me happy are:
the sodium-packed chewiness of Ramen Noodles,

A Wreck from Potbellys - everything on it plus extra hot peppers,

and, of course, the salty bacon, crunchy lettuce and half and half ratio of mayo to burger on my favorite - the JBCB.

I'm saying the fault lies with the little guy we are expecting in October.

That's right! MEGGO'S PREGGO (as Ryan so kindly announced to my family the first time around)!

Coming up: the creepy growing fetus blog sidebar!

Zoo day

Spent the day timing how long the hippo can stay underwater without coming up for a breath, laughing at elephants stealing each other's food and being mesmerized by the tiger's fabulous orange coat. It was a good day.

More of the surprise

Julie sent me these photos last night and she definitely captured some of the more hilarious aspects of the party.I have no ability to control my emotions. I came out of it pretty quick, though.

The all-white cake. You will only think this is funny if you watch The Office.
The frosting on the cake before it became all white. My friends labored intensively to get it all off.
These 25-year-old lungs blew those candles all out, by the way. My wish better come true!

The food, brought by many of the partiers, was divine.

This just shows how much I talk about cheap food. Julie knew exactly what to serve at my party: Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers.

The punch was so good that once everyone left, I finished it off with the ladle.

Surprise

Saturday was right up there with some of the best birthdays I have ever had - and I have had 25 of them. But it didn't seem to be shaping up that way earlier in the day. The plan was to go to lunch, then go to Ryan's church basketball game, go home, get ready and go to a movie that night. I didn't admit it at the time, but it kind of seemed like a ho-hum birthday.

But, we had a good lunch, and though Ryan's game started an hour late, his team won so we had something to celebrate. We got home and I decided that I didn't want to go to a movie but Ryan insisted so we set off to drop Ethan off at my friend Julie's house. I was secretly cursing Ryan for not allowing me to do what I wanted on my own birthday when we opened Julie's front door and almost fell back off the steps. There, screaming "Surprise!" in Julie's living room were so many of my good friends. I'll admit, I started to cry at first, but I don't know that I could have better expressed my combined shock and happiness in any other way.

The party had a Kelly's Office Birthday theme (or non-theme, I guess), complete with the above sign, underinflated black balloons and a completely white cake. They even gave me the choice of an hour nap or an hour of TV. I think I would have taken more photos of all of the delicious food and hilarious stuff had I not been so shocked by it all.

Grand-schemer Julie had several break-downs and tense moments before and after this insanely awesome party, but she has no idea how much it all meant to me. Thanks Julie!

Thanks so much to all of my wonderful friends.

Flat stanley visits Virginia

Flat Stanley visited us via my cute cousin Annie and we took him around to some of the sites that make the Commonwealth of Virginia famous. There was a lot for Flat Stanley to see in the area in which we are located, just across the river from our nation's capital. We visited Mount Vernon, the home of the very first POTUS, as well as his grave; the graves of many of the men and women who died serving our country at Arlington National Cemetery; and the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial, a large statue depicting a famous photo taken during the battle of Iwo Jima during the second World War.

It sometimes takes something like Flat Stanley to remind me that I live in such a great place.

Big love

Don't you sometimes feel like Mormon bloggers are in a competition to decide whose husband is the most loving/thoughtful/kind/hot?

Well, I'm about to enter my hubby into the competition.

Ha! Just kidding.

Really, I just want to thank him for suprising me this morning by staying home from work and sending me off the the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa for a pedicure, then taking me to a sports pub to meet our friend Julie and her kids and view our beloved Aggies in the first round of the NCAA tournament. This comes after my no-good day Wednesday, when I fell apart and Ryan brought me one of my favorite things (Thai Chicken Pizza) from one of his least favorite restaurants (California Pizza Kitchen). I think he is in love with me. Anyway, look at my feet. Aren't they to die for?And so are those Aggies - or at least Ryan thinks so. After watching our 11th-and-far-too-low-seeded team lose by one point, he told me he wanted cyanide in fruit punch in response to my question, "What do you want for dinner tonight?"

So we lost. Don't get me wrong, we are all devastated. But the game didn't come without its high points. Take, for example, the moment my friend Julie realized that as two wedding-ring bearing women, three children and one man - all wearing Utah State regalia - we must look like polygamists from Utah. We got plenty of stares but people started cheering on our Ags and we soon felt right at home - that is until Rachel showed up. Ryan told us all to take our wedding rings off. I guess he would rather appear as a player than a plural marrier.
We are sad that Utah State lost but we sure love Ryan... or at least I do.

Leprechauns really do exist

Happy Green Day!

I want to go to there

This movie is unrealistic, over-acted, almost as long as Sunday church and uncomfortably cheesy at times.

And yet, we rented it on Friday and I have already seen it two-and-a-half times - and I don't plan on taking it back until I finish it again. It's reminiscent of old musicals - minus all the song and dance. Of course I enjoy the over-the-top and obvious love story and I adore the magical little child.

Oh, and did I mention Hugh Jackman?

I can't control myself.

My birthday isn't for another week but I got a few early gifts in the mail.
The packages screamed at me to open them.

So I did.

Thanks Mom and Kenz. I love all of them.

Should I admit that several of these items made my mouth water?

My friend sent me a link to this the other day and her reaction was: "I think I am going to be sick..." Sure, some of it makes my stomach churn (the pig stuffed pig, for example). But I would be lying if I said the meat cake wasn't calling my name right now.

Getting really good at awkward poses and manufactured smiles

Wherever I go, I always try to get a family photo. Mexico was no exception.

Sometimes it worked...

...sort of.
Sometimes not so much.