Just in the NICK of time...

...we got some photo's with Santa before he makes his annual journey around the world-I'm glad we caught him, and glad his elves are packing up his sleigh for him so that he still had time to say hello to us! Merry Christmas everyone!

(The lighting was terrible, so that's why they look like that-but I got some-so I'm happy, and the kids loved seeing him again. Topher looks like he is sad, that's just because he wanted me, and I was on the other side of the gate to take the photo's-he was fine to talk to "Ho Ho Ho" as he calls him!)

Pregnancy Updates...

I decided to make a new blog with pregnancy updates so that this one can still be for the whole family. I will still post big news about the baby on this blog, but want to keep more of a journal of this pregnancy-so if you are ever interested-click on the link under "Our Stuff" that says "All about the NEW BABY" or click here.

Sorry about the bad pics-I had a really cute image in my mind-it didn't turn out that way-but you still get the point right?

Crying...WHY?!??!

We had a dentist appointment for the kids at their regular dentist on Monday. We went in, had Bekah sit in the chair for x-rays when the receptionist came running in and stopped us. Apparently our new insurance only covers Willamette Dental, and this dentist was not part of the group.
SO we had to leave and this was Bekah... I know, most kids cry when they have to go to the dentist, not when they get out of it!!!

If you want to turn down your volume...

...I'd completely understand, but Chad was laughing so hard at this Christmas song that I have playing that I thought some of the guys that enjoy potty humor such as my husband does, might get a laugh out of this as well...I have to admit it had me giggling a little, I know we are so immature!

Edit: I changed my starting song, but you can still find it on my playlist! It's called "I farted on Santa's Lap (now Christmas is going to stink for me)" Scroll down to the bottom of my blog and you will find it on the list!

Artichoke Dip

Everyone keeps asking for this recipe of my mom's, that we had at Bunco the month I hosted, so I thought I'd post it here. It's super yummy, and makes a great dish to bring to a party...

Ingredients:
1 sm. jar diced Marinated Artichoke Hearts
1 box Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1/2 cup Sour Cream
1 regular size package of Shredded Parmesean Cheese (not the canister-it needs to be shredded)
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 TBS. Dill

Heat all ingredients together until cheese melts, I usually do this in a mini crockpot because I can keep it warm as long as I need to, but you can heat it on the stove and transfer to dish if that's easier.
Serve with crackers, tortilla chips, veggies or whatever else sounds good.
Enjoy!

Puffy little Buddies

Taylor and Bekah had so much fun together at zoo lights, they held hands everywhere they went and hugged all the characters, oohed and aahhed at all the lights on the train ride and giggled all night. It's so cute to see them hang out as friends, they are just getting to the age that they actually play together rather than play along side eachother. Bekah is going to miss her a ton!

I wanna hippo-potamus for Christmas...

We went to zoo lights after our trip to the mall on Tuesday with some wonderful friends of ours, the Johnston's and the Young's who both happen to be leaving Portland next week-:(.

It was a great night-not too freezing, not too crowded, lines not horrendous for the train and lots of laughs were had-so not the experience we had last year!

We had so much fun-Oh and Johnston's and Young's-thanks for coming with us. We are going to miss you and your families beyond belief! Love ya

The Non-Santa Photos

On Tuesday we went out to Washington Square for the traditional photo with Santa. We went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch, talked with Chester the Bear and went and saw the Jolly old man himself!
So where is the pic of my kids smiling happily from Santa's lap? Well they are non-existant! And yes, my kids sat on his lap, they smiled, they told him what they wanted etc.. but see the problem was a sign that asked "that you refrain from using your personal camera, and buy one of their packaged portrait deals". Other people in front of us were using their cameras, they just wanted you to buy the $35 3x5 print (yes that was the cheapest one!).
I didn't care, I would have taken the photo despite the sign, but Bekah wanted me to take her up to Santa and hold her hand, she was a bit nervous-so I gave Chad the job of taking the photo. He wouldn't do it because of the sign, but he wasn't willing to shell out the money either. SO I have no photo. Which means I will have to take another trip to the mall and take someone who is willing to take a picture. Chad doesn't think I need a photo, but come on mom's-you need a photo with your kids on Santa's lap, am I right?
I did get a picture of "this" Santa who was just an older gentleman walking around with his cute wife handing out candy canes to kids and telling them he would see them on Christmas Eve-really a nice thing-but not the Santa photo I was looking for!

Buddy the Elf, What's your Favorite Color?

Here's a little Christmas greeting from us to you!

Clickity Here with your little mouse

Merry Christmas, Love The Hewlett Elves

HOLY tree and treats!

My mom and I went to a Christmas cookie and candy exchange yesterday at my friend Katie's house in Damascus. She has a daughter Hayden who is a little younger than Bekah so that was fun. I got overloaded on cookies and treats, (we ended up with like 6 dozen cookies of 12 different kinds), it's fun to have some extra's around to share and that way you only end up having to make one kind instead of 12 to get a good variety to give away. Of course that would be the easy way-not for me, if you saw my previous post, you will see what I am making for my friends! :)Then we came home and decorated my mom's little tree-okay so it's not little -IT'S HUGE!!! Bekah was all excited about decorating another tree, but got seriously bored after the first 1/4 of the tree was decorated-and I couldn't blame her the tree stood about 10 feet with the angel on top and was about 5 feet around. It takes up half her living room! Topher was loving the train they set up and was pretty much on his tummy the whole night, unless he was sitting in a snowman bucket, next to the train.

Yummmy....

If any of you live CLOSE by (Sorry Amy, Wyoming is not CLOSE!) and if it actually happens-this is what I'm going to make with my mom for neighbor, (ie: friends from church) goodies. My mom made some yesterday and they were sooooo good! She dips them in caramel first and then chocolate and then some other yumminess. They almost taste like gourmet twix bars or something...so won't you be my neighbor?

How I met the father of my children...

Saw this on A's blog, and thought it would be fun to find out how everyone met their spouse- I guess I really don't know many of your "how did you meet" stories, so hopefully you will all join in and share...

As far as Chad and I....this is going to be a LONG post-sorry, but I think it's a good story...

Well it was just a little over 6 years ago in July of 2001 that I was working as a manager of a Subway in American Fork Utah. I had just gotten out of a really dumb relationship-I decided I was completely done dating and I was SET on going on a mission for my church. My bishop was understanding...understanding in a way that was more like-"let's see what happens in the next few months, and see how you feel." I knew I would feel no different-I was going on a mission in January and that was that.

Then a friend of a friend came home from his mission, his name was James, he was also set on not dating-so we became fast hang out buddies. He was working with a mechanic in Alpine and one day he called me up at Subway and asked me to bring up 3 sandwiches when I got off work to the guys at the shop. I made the sandwiches, stopped at home to change out of my ugly clothes and put on some skanky ones, (back then, I didn't think they were skanky, they weren't all that modest-but to hear Chad describe my tank top and holey jeans that day-you would think I was auditioning for a Vegas strip show)! When I got to the shop you guessed it one of the 3 guys was Chad.

Chad was working on a car the whole time I was there, barely said hi and thank you, and to be quite honest, I barely noticed him, except for his SUPER blue eyes, which still can take me by surprise! The owner of the shop, Kyle talked non-stop to me and I had a good time for a bit, before I headed home to hang out with my best friend.

I can't be sure if it was the next day or the one after that, that Kyle and Chad came into Subway for lunch. Kyle again talked to me for a long time, but the only thing I got from Chad was what toppings he wanted on his sandwich. I saw a lot of them over the next couple of weeks-and I was completely oblivious to Chad. He was a nice guy, but just a nice guy who came in for lunch-there were a lot of those...

Then Thursday, July 26th, I got a phone call at work and the guy on the other end asked me "how I felt about older guys", me, a little confused at who it might be-he might have even said, but it hadn't registered at that point answered, "I LOVE older guys". Then he had the nerve to ask if he could take me out that night, as soon as I said "yes" I regretted it. What was I thinking? I was not dating anyone anymore!!!

Well that night, I was COMPLETELY dreading the upcoming date, and when it was about 5 minutes past the time he was supposed to pick me up, I started getting ready to leave. I didn't put up with people, especially dates being late-this wouldn't have been the first time that I wasn't home to receive a late gentleman caller...My roomate and bestest friend Melissa tried to talk me out of leaving, and when Chad called to tell me that he was going to be late (DUH!), I wouldn't talk to him, Melissa did, and she pretty much told him, that he had about 30 seconds to get there or I would not be there. (I think I thought pretty highly of myself at the time...)

When he finally came and got me, I think the only reason I went was because he was driving a jeep. He took me to Cabo Grill, I had never been-but turns out, I loved it-the food that is, him, not so much-hating the whole first date questions and counting the minutes till he dropped me off.

After dinner he asked if I wanted to go get a movie and go back to his place-typical, I thought-he totally just wants to make out. When we pulled up to Blockbuster, we sat in the jeep and talked for a minute, and it was then that he told me that he had 2 kids. I know that's when most girls would start running, for some reason, it had the complete opposite effect on me, for some strange, unknown reason I always knew that I would marry someone with kids. Not that I thought I would marry this guy, but I was more intrigued at that point. It was at this point that Chad asked if I would rather just drive and talk.

We ended up driving up American Fork canyon and stopping at a place called Tibble Fork, we talked for hours while Chad did flips over the ro-bar. We had lots in common and it was so easy to be myself with him. At one point Chad asked me to marry him jokingly and I jokingly said yes, but at that point-I don't think either of us was entirely joking.

When he took me home, we found out that his youngest brother was my age and that I knew him, one of my friends Sara had gone to a dance with him, and they were in our group. Melissa was gone when we got home she was hanging out with a friend of ours, Matt, so I asked Chad to wait until she got home, because I was scared to be home alone, (our house was HAUNTED_NO LIE!!!).

Well we ended up talking on the couch for a long time and I guess I fell asleep with my feet on his lap. He stayed awake and watched me sleep forever, when I woke up, I was embarassed to see that he was staring at me. He was just too dang sweet, I don't know if I was just tired or a big old hussy-but I sat up and totally started kissing him!

Well he didn't stop me and about 3 days later we had said that we loved each other, in about a week we were talking marriage, 9 weeks from our first date we were engaged at the same spot he had asked me to marry him on our first date (Tibble Fork). 15 weeks and 3 days from our first date, it was November 10 and we were married in the Mt. Timpanogas Temple, and haven't looked back since.

It's been a fantastic 6 years and I am SO glad that Melissa talked me into staying and waiting a few more minutes for him. He was so worth the wait!

The Power of 4....

I get these emails ALL the time-I rarely do them-but I figured I would do it here and then if I ever get another one I will refer them to this post....Enjoy this little insight into my life (although it is all stuff you all probably know)

A) 4 jobs I have had in my life:
1. Mom
2. Apartment Manager
3. Subway Manager
4. Gold's Gym Manager

B) 4 movies I would watch over and over:

1. French Kiss

2. Hitch

3. Elf

4. Napolean Dynamite/Nacho Libre

C) 4 places I have lived:

1. Portland, OR

2. Saratoga Springs, UT

3. Pleasant Grove, UT

4. American Fork, UT

D) 4 TV shows I watch:

1. The Office
2. Chuck

3. Samantha Who?

4. Scrubs

E) 4 places I have been:

1. Kauai Hawaii

2. Florida Keys

3. Honduras

4. Nauvoo, IL

F) 4 People who I email ( I put them into groups)

1. Bunco Babes

2. Clackamas Clique

3. Wynn Hewletts

4. Creative Team

G) 4 of my favorite foods:

1. Sandwiches-almost any-but especially Gandolfo's
2. Claussen Pickles
3. Burritos, enchilada style from Cabo Grill with their cream sauce -mmmmm
4. Chocolate chip cookies

H) 4 places I would like to be right now:

1. Wish chad was here instead of out working-but grateful he has such a great job

2. Hawaii

3. In my new house (it will happen, it will happen, it will happen....)
4. Scrapbook shopping

I) 4 things I am looking forward to in 2008:

1. My birthday on January 4th-(that's right friends you still have some shopping time left. It is 10 days after Christmas-so plenty of time to recover from that Christmas shopping splurging right? I know me neither-getting used to it...sort of!)

2. DisneyLand!!! We are going at the end of January! So excited for that!!!
3. All the 3 year olds in my nursery class going to Sunbeams....(I love you all, but wow there are a lot of you!!!)
4. My new house, my new house, my new house!!! 2008 is the year BABY! I can feel it!!!!

A tribute...

...to the easiest baby girl to watch EVER!
I think we are very blessed where we are to have such great kids around here. I mean I have NEVER liked having the nursery job at church except this time-and it's because all of these kids are so sweet, cute and loveable. I have watched several of these cuties at home as well-and they are all easy to watch-they can all self entertain, they are funny and actually make watching my kids a little easier when they are here, because they all play pretty well together.
Still as easy as all of the rest are and have been- I watched this little gem on Saturday night while her parents were at a Christmas party and she was a perfect angel. She quietly played with toys for awhile and played nicely with Christopher and then at about 7:05 she went to her diaper bag-pulled out her jammies and brought them to me!!! I changed her, cuddled her for a bit and put her in her portable crib, she fussed when I turned to walk out of the room, but by the time I was in the hallway she had quieted right down. The whole night I just kept thinking WOW! She is one sweet peach to watch!

Trimmin the Tree

Just your typical cute kids (and one random one of me, just so you know I was there too) decorating the tree pics, then of course putting the star on top with dad.

Another great tradition and another great memory. Is everyone else loving this season as much as I am? Love Love Love it!

My favorite pics

I know these are never the best quality-maybe some year when I get me my Rebel, but for now these will do. I love seeing my kids play with the lights before we hang them on the tree. They are always so fascinated-for me it's another very magical moment of the Christmas season...

Cuttin down O'Tannenbaum

Thursday-November 29 (a bit behind in the bloggin)We went for our annual trip to cut down the perfect tree! We found Martin's U-Cut last year-and LOVE it! They have lots and lots to choose from and the people who run it live there-and are so sweet. They have a wreath shop out of their garage and have free hot cocoa and cider and give candy canes to everyone. We found the perfect tree not long after getting there. Even though Bekah had her heart set on getting a small tree (translated: a twig) We did finally convince her that we had to get a big tree to put a star on top and put presents under-and I told her we would put a little tree on her side table by her bed. Bekah by one of the small trees she tried to convince us was "just right".Topher LOVED this activity-he was having so much fun finding all the trees and trompin around in the mud and the rain.Chad by his victim. So proud!

The kids enjoying their candy canes outside the wreath shop.

Such a fun tradition!