Mexico!

Heather and Sean

Alan and I hanging out at the condo or hotel? Whatever you call it.

Me looking in on a Catholic Mass.

Me, trying to make it look like I was naked. Didn't work though.

The waves off of Divorce Beach were so awesome! It was so beautiful.

In between Lovers and Divorce beach.

Coming out of a cave that smelled like pee.

Al and I having a blast swimming in the big waves in the Sea of Cortez.

Blurry pic. Sorry.

Al covered in sunscreen and sand, drinking his drink.

This was one of the cheapest resterants we went to. I loved my sandwich. It was made out of Ham, refried beans, hot dogs, pineapple and cheese. Weird I know, but really good. I don't have a picture of our favorite resarant El Fagon. It was really cheap but so good. We went there twice! I wish we had Mexican food like that here. Hmmmm...Yum.

Heidi and Erik

The first or second night there, we went to this restaurant "Jasmin's".

Can you see why I gained 4 lbs? Check out those servings.

Authentic Mexican Restaurant Decor.

Me at the Mega, searching for some good produce.

At the hotel's restaurant "Mamma Mia".

Alan and I had the opportunity to go to San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico October 1st-8Th. My dad gave my sisters and I the trip as wedding presents. It was so fun to spend time with my sisters, and the get to know their husbands better. One of the funniest things I learned was about Heidi's husband Erik, was When he sleeps he can't have anything touching him at all. Heidi says he puts pillow surrounding him like it is Fort Knox. Erik said sometimes it even bugs him to have his fingers touch, so he will put the blanket in between his fingers to separate them while he sleeps. Hilarious! Heather and Sean did not get there until Saturday afternoon. So the first couple of days with Heidi and Erik we learned that we are all too much alike. We were all so laid back it was hard to make decisions. When Heather and Sean got here we definitely had more direction, and that is when we did most of our activities. There was a huge Super Store called "Mega" (It like the Mexican version of Wal-mart- but with customer service). The store smelled of stinky fish most of the time. They had so many fly's swarming around the meat, it was so unsanitary. I had a hard time picking produce I felt comfortable eating, because most of it looked rotten. One funny thing about he Mega was, you didn't have to buy a whole melon, they would cut off the part you wanted and Saran wrap the rest and put it back on the pile. Weird?
In most boutique type stores and street vendors you could negotiate the price. Which I actually really enjoyed. I was actually nervous at first, but when I realized I would just end up paying extra if I didn't negotiate. I got a $20 dollar item for $8. I love a good deal! The only Spanish I really learned was: Donda esta el Banias (Spell?- Where is the bathroom)? We ate soooo much food. I gained 4 lbs on the trip, which is actually good considering how much I ate. We went through so many boxes of Oreo's (Although Alan ate most of them:) ) My favorite part of the trip was sleeping in every day, not cleaning, and not taking care of kids. It was such a good break.

Victoria's Baptisim

You are invited to Victoria Paul's Baptisim.
Date: October 31 (Halloween)
Time: 10 a.m.
Where: Our Stake Center (965 W. 2000 N. Orem, Ut 84057)

Following the Baptisim, we will be having a luncheon at our house. We will be having Soup in bread bowls. If you would like to bring something, pick from the list below and then comment so we know what to expect.

Creamy Soups for bread bowls
Thinner soups we will have in regular bowls
Halloween Treats or Regular treats
Apple Cider

We hope to see you all there.

Happy Birthday Audrey!

We sure love our spunky Audrey. Things that Audrey says that are so cute: Boovie (movie), Gulk (milk), Sighy (Outside), NO,NO,NO , oh Kay, Bobbie (Barbie), Gook (Book), Gankette (Blanket), Bood (Food), Seazohz (Cereal).

On Audrey's birthday right after we woke up she opened her presents. she got a little piano (it reminds me of the piano lioness? plays on charlie brown), a Barbie, a Dora puzzle, 4 monster bath toys, and a magna doodle. She had Cookie Crisp cereal for breakfast. Later in the morning I turned on Cartoons for her to watch while I took a shower and this is what she was doing when I got out (the picture above).

Audrey, you are such a sweet girl with so much personality. Remember, Mommy and Daddy will always love you and be there for you!

Love, Mom

Happy 31st Birthday Alan!

How Alan and I met:

First official time:
There was this cute blond curly haired fellow visiting my seminary class my senior year, I think it was November or December. I was talking to some classmates and inviting them to come see me dance in the Nutcracker. Alan said "If I come see you dance, will you give me a kiss afterwards?" Yeah, he was pretty dang flirty back then.

First time:
I was at a school stomp maybe a month later. I saw Alan and his friends dancing in a group near my friends. He came up to me and pretended to be shy and said "um, will you um, dance, um..."
I interrupted him and said "Will you dance with me?" He told me later that "I danced really close to him." We were both pretty smitten with each other. Soon after he asked me to go to Jr. prom with him. He asked me to go on a date with him before Jr. prom, and said we needed to go on a date before Jr. prom because he had a rule that he couldn't kiss on the first date. Yeah, i know. He was extremely forward. Jr. Prom was a blast, i was falling for him so fast, and yes we did kiss. I wore this long beautiful red dress, and while we were dancing the song "Lady in Red" came on. All of Al's friends were singing " lady in red, is dancing with Alan." So, that became our song. We danced to it at our wedding. I remember my fav. thing about Alan was that I felt like I could tell him anything. We would talk for hours and hours on the phone. Not only was I head over heals in love with him, but he was quickly becoming one of my best friends. We stopped "dating" soon after we started (2 or 3 weeks) because this was getting way to serious and he wanted to go on a mission and didn't want anything to stand in the way of that. I respected that.

Alan, Happy Birthday! Te Adora mi Vida. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me.
I love you. April

Breaking Dawn

I just finished the last twilight book Saturday night. I loved it! I cried. Who has read this and what did you think? I think this is going to make one amazing movie.

NYC #3

Little Italy.

April, Missy, and Tracie.

WARNING: This section is about Ballet, so if you don't want to hear about it, skip down. In the School of American Ballet locker room. They said we could not take any pictures at he school, so I asked if I could use the restroom and snuck this one. Going the SAB was the highlight of the whole trip for me. We went to S.A.B. the day we were supposed to leave (me, Jeanette, and Kat) and I asked the security guard if we could get a tour. He pulled some strings for us and we did end up getting a tour. The lady that gave us a tour said that it was too bad we were not staying longer because I could watch a class the next day. I was at least glad I got to see it, but really wished I could watched a class. Later that afternoon we found out that our flight was canceled for the next evening. I called the lady from SAB and set up a time to watch a class. The next day I took Tracie and Missy with me to watch the class. I was really nervous to be in charge because I am terrible with directions and taking the subway all by our selves scared me. I didn't want to get lost. I studied the Subway map the night before, hoping that would help. The next morning we got on the right subway, but heading the wrong direction. Whe hurried and got off and tried to get on one going "Up Town" ( I believe?) and we couldn't figure out which subway entrance to go in because there are one one each side of the street. Confusing. We did figure it out and made it in the nick of time. We got to watch the most advanced class. What? This is the probably most prestigious ballet school in America. I was so excited, I can't even tell you. We sat in the front of the classroom and dancers started filling in stretching and warming up for class. Then this skinny tooth pick grandma lady came in to teach the class. She asked where we were from and where Tracie danced at. The class was so amazing. All of the girls were incredibly flexible and strong. Everyone had amazing extension (how height they can lift their leg.) They had a different style then I have ever seen (Balanchine technique), at first I thought some of the girls were doing some of the exercises incorrectly until I realized that everyone did it that way. You would think Ballet is the same where ever you go, but in allot of ways it's not. Same basic stuff, but some school's teach you to brush your leg and some don't, Heads are in different places, some exercises have different names, etc... My favorite correction the teacher gave one of the girls was "You need to be a little more generous with your soul." Artistry is such a hard thing to teach, and I thought she hit it right on the nose. I was amazed at how respectful and meek all the dancers were. Anything the teacher said they would do and try so hard to do it perfectly. I taught so many girls with an attitude problem that I was so envious. I was so grateful for the experience.

Julliard and SAB are right next to each other. I was hoping to go to an SAB gift shop but there was not one. So we went to the Julliard book store and bought some souvenirs. Julliard was very secure, just like SAB. But Julliard seemed more so. Picture above is of the SAB and Julliard Cafe.

Barbie Castle in Toys R Us in NYC.

At the Broadway show "The Little Mermaid." It was so amazing! The were in heely's so it looked like they floated across the stage. Amazing sets and costumes. Loved it.

Picasso at the Met.

Central Park.

The castle from Step Mom in Central Park.

These townhouse were in a nicer area in NYC. They reminded me of the Cosby Show and You've Got Mail. Very Cute.

At the doorway to the Manhattan New York Temple, and this is also where church was. I felt bad for the speakers in sacrament because the majority of us were nodding off from exhaustion. I had to go out and get a drink and walk around to wake myself up. I wonder what I am looking at.

This is a picture of all the Dance Co. girls feeling Ellie move. A couple of them actually felt her move.

Little Italy was one of my favorite places in NYC. There are a ton of Italian Restaurants and the Fettuccine Alfredo I had was the best ever. This was such a cute little area (a street). They have these Italian bakery's that are to die for. I tried Italian Ice Cream for the first time (Gilato?) and It was soooo good. We also went to China town and it smelled so strong of stinky fish.

I guess we are being "Bond Girls!"

Ellie's blessing is on August 30th!

Okay, so I know I said August 8th or 16th, but we changed our minds. I sure hope everyone can come, I don't think I can change it again. Thanks, April