Oh the humanity!!!

So there is a valid reason for me posting this old exercise modeling picture. (It was for the new step trainer for old people circa 1990) I have much more embarrassing things on the horizon.

it stems from some REALLY GREAT NEWS!! I have been chosen (and I started monday morning) to be in the Utah Valley magazine fitness challenge for 2009. I have a kick-@%$ trainer named Dan at Total Health and Fitness in orem. I get a meal plan, an exercise plan and overall guidance to a lifestyle makeover. i, of course, will be blogging about it, but that is not the embarrassing part.... Here goes...

In the Jan/Feb issue of the magazine will be a BEFORE picture of me with my WEIGHT, BODY FAT and other vital statistics listed right next to me. YIKES!!! That is some bravery! But never you fear, I figure no one is going to all of a sudden realize I'm fat, so I'm good.

I'm really stoked about this {{yelling and screaming into the phone when I got the call}}. You can track my progress here on the blog and in the magazine.

Along the way I will reveal my goals. The end goal is going to be KILLER!!

School Uniform Debate

Bay had to write a paper on school uniforms and she needed some pictures for the different points of view. So she and coop had a little photo shoot. just try and figure out picture #3.

On the SECOND DATE of Christmas....

we picked a fun Christmas movie (the Santa Clause), made muddy buddies {{yum}} and settled in for a warm night at home.


Of course, it ended up being the Cowboys game, but still a fun night together!!

On the FIRST DATE of Christmas...

We got hot chocolate, jumped in the car and drove around looking at Christmas Lights. We went through Alpine, Orem and Provo and ended up at the Festival of Lights in Spanish Fork. It's $5 per car and worth it!


The roundabout in Alpine.


Killer house in Orem South of 16th North and 450 east


Chilly....


No lie, this was in someones front room in a house in Orem on 8th South.


This was a funny display at a house in Provo on Riverwood Drive.

The 12 "dates" of Christmas

We have started a new tradition in our house! We are doing the 12 DATES of Christmas. Every night from the 13th to the 24th we are doing a family date. These are my gold, frankincense and myrrh trees. Gold is wonder (thus the gold ornaments), frankincense is meaning (all the family and kid made ornaments for the last 23 years) and myrrh is usefulness. The myrrh tree is where I put the present each day for our date. We open it up as a family and it tells us what we are doing that night.

How Old AM I?!?!!!

I had the most surreal experience on Saturday. I drove up to Ogden and had brunch with some of my old friends from High School. Go weber!! I just kept staring at their faces trying to place the last 20 years on their faces. They look so amazing and have all these great stories and lives. It was so fun to catch up.

Christmas Advent Calendar of Christ's Life and Mission

This is one you won't want to miss! Check out my friends blog for a really uplifting message every day.

Debbie B. Blog

Merry Christmas!!

Baptism Preview

Our ward had our Baptism Preview on Sunday night. This is where they get all the families together of the kids turning 8 in 2009 and talk about baptism and the logistics behind it.
These are all the boys in our ward turning 8 next year!



Coop's birthday isn't until October, so he still has 10 months, but he is SO EXCITED about getting baptized and confirmed a member of the church. I can't wait to compare this picture to his actual baptism picture to see how much he will have changed over the year.

Weird Weilands

So here are some things we do when we're hanging around the house....


Hail Me! Hail Myself!
I'm the German Ethel Merman don't ya know?!
(Go watch the Producers if that reference means nothing to you!)





The Band-Aid mummy!

The Greatest Burger in the Wasatch Front Challenge!

So we went to Marley's, which is the restaurant inside the Timpanogos Harley Davidson store in Lindon, for dinner the other night. (Thanks Grandma!) And upon sampling the DELISH sliders they have we have instituted the First Annual Greatest Burger in the Wasatch Front Challenge! We are making it our mission to taste all the Burgers, Fries and Shakes that are NOT fast food and come up with our top five or ten list. This will be our great contribution to society.



So far, Marley's and Five Guys have made the list for Burgers and fries and JCW is on the list for their shakes.

If you have a recommendation, please let us know and we will add it to our quest.

My brother Ben lived with our mom for a while and then came to live with us. It was really great having him around. He is now back in the hospital for some needed care. He's doing alright, and I will update you when I have more news.

This is a picture of Tim and mom laying new carpet in the spare room at her house. The funniest part for me was when they finished (I was sick, but supportive! I laid on her couch the whole time.) Tim came out and said I should go look at it, it was done, then mom followed up with "And I helped" with a southern accent just like the little girl said it on the Shake n bake commercials from a million years ago. FUNNY! Guess you had to be there.

Sisters

Wanna have some real fun? Give your camera to two cute girls and have them snap away! I have so many AWESOME pictures of my girls that I got FROM them. Here are a few post-Thanksgiving, not sure what to do next, people are napping pictures of Tay and Bay.

What we're really thankful for...

Football!! Could this picture be more staged?! Go Cowboys!

Seriously though, we had such a great day just hanging out, being together and sharing a bottle of Pepto.



Tay and Coop



tay and Dad



tay and Harrison



tay and ....no wait! No tay! Cooper, Morgan and his CUTE girlfriend Lani.

Congratulations!! It's a food baby!

Tay and Bay are expecting...to feel sick really soon!



Our friend, Bryon Danielson and his food baby



Morgan claims that this is how he always looks....

Happy Thanksgiving!!

So here's my crazy family posing for our non-traditional happy thanksgiving shot! We have entirely too much fun together!

The MENU...


We took this delicious and healthy mountain o fruit and turned it into....



...this delicious whipped cream fruit salad. YUMMY YUMMY!



And these nutritious YAMS into this brown sugar/marshmallow candy side dish.



And of course we had to take the ever so good for you green beans and dip them in batter then FRY them, yes I said FRY them. This was a DIET COKE batter...does that make it healthier because it's Diet?



Oh yeah, then the turkey. We didn't carmelize it or anything! We just ate it like this! Except of course the fat drippings gravy I made. Hmmmm....How many pounds to people gain over the holidays?

Team Edward!!

So I LOVED the book Twilight and the last one Breaking Dawn. (the two in the middle were SOOOOOOO boring!!) And I never really understood why Edward was so into Bella. She is so whiny! But the movie was really great and helped me see the chemistry {{the forest scene where he backs her up against a tree?!}} HOT! Don't go in with too high expectations and you'll really enjoy it! One note * I wanted him to sparkle more!