Valentine's Day came a bit early around here...

A number of factors came together to necessitate an early celebration of Valentine's Day: it falls on a Sunday this year, Chuck works all weekend anyway, and in general we try to boycott the silly one-day jacking up of flower prices.

Which is why Chuck brought home these beautiful roses last week!

Along with donuts for breakfast, a sweet note, and a whole lot o' chocolate. But that wasn't all. A couple of days later, he brought home an envelope labeled JANA AND PAM. I waited until my mom was over and then we opened to together to find . . .

A gift certificate for us to go get manicures and pedicures together, yay! What kind of suck-up husband shops for his wife AND mother-in-law for Valentine's Day? My husband, that's who! He's a keeper :). So what kind of amazing gift did I get for such a sweet husband?


I agreed to see AVATAR (in 3-D!) with him. I thought it looked really, really dumb and James Cameron's ego annoys me, but Chuck really wanted to see it so off we went. And as always, Chuck was right and I liked it a LOT. One of these days I'll learn not to question him in his attempts to broaden my horizons :).

A 'Chuck and Jana date' also allowed for a 'Grandma Pam and Clyde and Will date'.

Grandma Pam helped Clyde make Valentines - so cute!

She also gave each boy a new Pez dispenser - now in addition to Buzz Lightyear and Woody, Clyde has Thomas the Tank Engine and Will has Percy. Will walked around with Percy ALL DAY today :).

Happy Valentine's Day (er, week? weekend?) to everyone! Love you all!

Why hotel livin' is the life for us

Prior to our trip to Salt Lake City and Elko for Amanda and Steve's December wedding, my children had never stayed in a hotel before - we prefer the less expensive 'show up at the homes of relatives and friends and ask for room and board in exchange for fun dinner conversation' route. After five days of fabulous hotel accommodations, however, we might move in permanently - here's why:

1. Room service.
Granted, we never actually ordered any, but the concept sounds GREAT.


2. Fun, sheer curtains to run out from under.
(Pay no mind to Will's oddly colored eyes; the red eye fixer perhaps did more harm than good.)

I personally did not understand the allure of this game, but Clyde and Will LOVED it. They giggled and ran out from underneath and giggled some more. I might have to invest in a panel of this stuff - Will's birthday isn't too far off . . .


3. Long corridors to run up and down.
(I was all set to write 'hallways' there, but suddenly had the impulse to write 'corridors' instead. 'Corridors' is a much prettier, fancier word that is more fun to say. Try it.)

I was very mindful of the neighboring hotel patrons and insisted the boys wrap up the running just before midnight. . . kidding, it was just after :).


4. Nice big beds at such a convenient distance apart for jumping back and forth with cousin Courtney.



4. Nice big beds to pile on with cousin George for some pre-bedtime cartoon viewing.


5. Nice big beds to sleep on . . . although clearly a twin size would have sufficed for these two very close brothers.

The other hotel amenities we were very impressed with but failed to photograph were:

- the elevator. An obvious highlight, but even more so because a little voice made an announcement each time we arrived at our intended floor. I felt like I was with Harry Potter and the gang taking the visitors' entrance to the Ministry of Magic.

- the laundry room in the basement. I did a late night load of our wedding outfits so they'd be ready for us to wear again at the Elko reception on Tuesday, and it was darned convenient to have it just downstairs!

- the hot tub. Again, we didn't actually use this amenity but it was nice to know it was there.

- Computer with Internet access and a comfortable chair in the lobby. Seriously, it's like they went out of their way to make ME feel more at home. This was particularly wonderful the night that Will was sooooo grumpy between two and four am; he just cuddled up on my lap while I blog-stalked and played on facebook.

Of course, sitting in my own home in my comfortable chair at my computer is pretty nice, too . . . and there isn't a weird night security guard trying repeatedly to strike up a conversation :)

Brightening up the January BLAHS

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Does anyone else feel like January is SERIOUSLY dragging on forever? I know we're at the home stretch now, but it has been such a dreary few days around here. It seems like January is always kind of lame - this year it's been much better thanks to fun road trips breaking up the monotony, but I've still been struggling. SO, what's been keeping my spirits up lately? My birthday and reality TV. That's right.
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I turned 25 on the 18th, yay! The birthday celebrations actually started a day early in Elko, where my awesome family-in-law surprised me with delicious 'monkey bread' (adorned with candles and accompanied by song) and some presents. Thanks again!! Monday morning I slept in (we had driven back to Nampa the night before) while Chuck wrangled the boys and took them grocery shopping so I could play on facebook and excitedly tally all of the birthday wishes I received :). That afternoon my mom watched the boys so that Chuck and I could go see a movie; I picked 'Sherlock Holmes' and I REALLY liked it. Then my mama had us over for a delicious dinner and made me a birthday cake, yay!
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For some reason, the milestone of 'TWENTY-FIVE' was freaking me out a little, so that day I included the following accessories in my attire to maintain the illusion of youth: my peace sign necklace, black fingernail polish, and capri leggings under my cute jean skirt. Nothing like aging gracefully. . . but I think I pulled it off.
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The Biggest Loser started again at the beginning of January, which has brightened my weeks considerably, especially since Chuck relented to watching it with me this season. First of all, I thought it was SO HORRIBLE that the yellow and blue teams had to leave immediately. I understand that they have the chance at returning, but still, they were so excited to have been selected and then they're punished for being out of shape and coming in last in the challenge? LAME! I understand that it's a competition, yadda yadda yadda, but still, let them hang out for a few days first!
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Sorry about that. Anyways, my other thoughts are: Just like everyone else, I hate the red team. The green team has some serious issues to deal with. The pink team kind of annoys me, and doesn't the daughter look EXACTLY like Shanon from the pink team two seasons ago? I love love LOVE the gray team. When Koli was talking about watching Filipe and his wife and how he wants that kind of love, I was seriously bawling.
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Next up, American Idol. For the purposes of full disclosure, I will admit that I haven't watched this show since I was a freshman at BYU and we would all crowd in my dorm room (I had a TV, which meant instant popularity) and cheer on the Mormon kid, Jon Peter something. Weren't those the days, Jaime? I think that was the season Fantasia won . . . Anyways, my complete devotion to Ellen DeGeneres brought me back, and I love it so far.
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So, being newly back on the Idol bandwagon, I don't get all the Kara-bashing - what's wrong with her? I like her! As far as guest judges, I was less than impressed with Katy Perry and Avril Lavigne. Could Katy have been more of a wench, and could Avril have been more immature? Thoughts?
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Next, I am recently slightly obsessed with wedding shows. It started with Platinum Weddings, which I mostly watched out of morbid curiosity - how is it possible to spend HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars on a wedding? Do you hand out wads of cash as favors? It turns out, it's definitely possible but also kind of annoying, so I moved on to better shows, like:
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Say Yes to the Dress! (And yes, I'm sure that some of these eventual weddings are as 'Platinum' as the other show, but I don't have to hear about how 'no expense was spared' on the tablecloths).
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My favorite consultant is Sarah. She is amazing at understanding exactly what a bride wants, even if the bride herself doesn't know! And I also love Randy, the fashion director. He cracks me up.
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Ugh, I actually just watched this episode the other day, this bride was SO ridiculous. She vetoed almost EVERY dress, and then just made fun of the ones she actually agreed to try on. Randy was getting sooooo ticked off, and finally at the end it came out that she already pretty much had a dress at home, but she just wanted to make sure she didn't like something else better. I had it when people waste the valuable time of both the consultants and ME as a viewer.
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Lastly, My Fair Wedding with David Tutera. LOVE it. He's this a-mazing wedding planner to the stars, and on this show he starts working with a normal, everyday bride three weeks before her wedding. David gets to know the bride's personality and vision and then seriously classes up the wedding a few notches with the financial resources and contacts that weren't accessible to the bride. He often replaces/improves dresses (bride's and/or bridesmaids'), centerpieces, decor, reception locations, and often entire wedding themes.
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I was a little wary during the first episode I watched when he announced that he was replacing the dress that the bride was going to wear. The new dress options were gorgeous, but you could tell that the bride was upset. He sat her down and talked about it later, and she explained that she and her mom had picked out her dress together and that her mom had paid for it, so she was worried about her mom's feelings if she didn't wear it. David proposed that the bride wear the original dress for the ceremony and then change into the new dress for the reception. The bride seriously looked SO happy at that compromise.
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I love this show, because the premise could lead to the wedding planner being condescending and rude, but David is so kind and friendly. He genuinely cares about each bride and wants to help her have the most amazing wedding day ever. He really listens and draws out of them how they want to feel that day, and if they're dead-set on a concept, he just works with it to make it better. David's definitely honest when something won't work - his pet peeves include fake flowers and finding a reception location online without visiting it in person - but he's so good at finding alternatives and making it all such a positive experience for the bride.
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AND, that's what's getting me through January. Is it spring yet??

Lee & Leesh re-tie the knot!

A couple of weeks ago we had the chance to head back to Elko to party with [Chuck's younger brother] Lee and Aleesha as they celebrated their second wedding anniversary with a vow renewal ceremony!

Lee and Aleesha have a darling little daughter Bri who's just a couple of months younger than Will. Aren't they such a sweet family?

The whole ceremony and reception were so beautiful and fun - here's the sign-in table.

Aleesha's favorite colors are hot pink and black - can you tell? :)

The beautiful couple. Leesh is such a fun girl; I'm so glad we married brothers!

Pops and Bri enjoying the party :)

They had a DJ and a dance floor, which my boys took full advantage of. . .

as did I. We spent most of the evening rockin' out,
much to the general amusement of those in attendance, I'm sure.

We did vacate the dance floor long enough to let Lee and Aleesha have their special first dance though :)

Chuck scored major points by dancing with both his wife AND his mom at different points during the evening. Good job, babe!

Their cake was sooo pretty, and the personalized cake topper was HILARIOUS!

Will agreed that the cake tasted as good as it looked :)

My nieces and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful arch from the ceremony and pose for some pictures - here I am with Mallory . . .

and with Courtney!

Oh, and with my cute husband, of course.

Then it was time for - what else? More dancing! I took a spin around with my super cute nephew George.

Amanda and Mallory taking a quick picture break from all the dancin'!

Courtney and I had some pretty sweet moves.

So, Clyde and Will and I have frequent dance parties at home, and about a year ago Clyde started break dancing - without any instruction or prompting from me. It's absolutely hilarious - he's picked it up from our daily viewing of the Ellen DeGeneres show; she always has awesome dancers on and cast-offs from So You Think You Can Dance.

My cute boys! Chuck earned even more points by surprising me with a special request to the DJ for my favorite song - Forever by Chris Brown. First he told me that he requested 'Achy Breaky Heart' and I was like, "Ohh, that's nice . . . " and then the real song started playing :)

Oh, my cute Will. The little kids found a great hiding spot underneath the main table (it was up on a stage), so Clyde and Will both spent quite a bit of time under there, causing various moments of panic when I could no longer spot them dancing.

And that was the celebration! Thanks for inviting us to be a part of it, Lee and Aleesha :)

Stizzy ties the knot part 2: Elko edition

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The night after the Salt Lake reception, we got up early and piled in the cars for the drive to Elko for the reception there that night. For some silly reason, I decided I should drive. And then it got snowy. Real snowy.

We were seriously going between 20-25 mph. At times, all I could make out were the tailights of the moving van in front of us. And the silly windshield wipers kept getting ice chunks frozen on them. Chuck rolled down the passenger window, reached out, and 'flicked' the windshield wiper free of ice. He then instructed me to do the same on the driver's side. I have never 'flicked' a windshield wiper before, and I seriously doubt I'll ever do it again. On my first try I missed the wiper altogether, so when on my second try I got a hold of it, my excitement got the best of me and instead of flicking it, I just held on. And on. I know, right? Of course it snapped off, leaving Chuck and myself in a state of shock. We drove the next thirty miles with me awkwardly/unsafely leaned over so I could see out Chuck's half of the window. I kept nervously giggling and telling Chuck how funny the whole situation was, to which he responded, "It will be funny when we get out of this alive."

Which we did! We stopped in Wendover and Chuck replaced the wipers and then took over driving, thank goodness!

We also regrouped with the rest of the caravan (showing off in their four wheel drive rides). Luckily the weather cleared up and the rest of the drive was drama-free.

Clyde and Will and myself enjoyed fabulous naps in the afternoon while Chuck helped set up at the church, and then it was time to go!

The Elko reception happened to fall on our sister-in-law Aleesha's 22nd birthday, which meant that the whole family was together and able to celebrate! So we had a little surprise birthday party (complete with cake!) for her right before the reception. Love ya Leesh!

(Grandma Thomas chatting with Steve's sister Lisa, Steve's mom Kathryn, and Steve's sister-in-law Julie)

The reception was so fun! Everyone was so relaxed and we had lots of time to spend talking and enjoying the yummy hot chocolate - complete with every topping or mix-in you can imagine! Chuck and I sat at a table with Steve's parents, sister, and sister-in-law and had a great time getting to know them a little better. My seven-year-old niece Courtney and I also spent a good portion of the reception pretending we were distant cousins of the bride who made the trip over from England and using really dreadful British accents :).

Chuck's Uncle Bill and Aunt Gina and three of their kids came all the way from Pennsylvania, and it was really fun to meet them and hang out a bit. Here they are at the reception with my cute niece Mallory.

Courtney posing with the cake.

The happy, happy couple eating some cake. It was goooooood. I know, I ate some the next day for lunch.

Will systematically attached himself to each member of the Thomas family, but it was especially fun to see how much he connected with Uncle Bill since they happen to be named after the same person, Chuck's late Grandpa Thomas (Bill's dad). So here's our picture of the two Williams!