Party Animal

I think after today Darek has become a huge Halloween fan. He had a Halloween party at School this morning which he loved. And then we had a ward Halloween party tonight. Not only is he diggin the treats and games, but he loves seeing the other kids' costumes. I've never been one to love Halloween, but it's different through the eyes of a darling little two year old.

Aunt Grace helped Darek decorate his bag to hold his treats.


Heading out to the party.


Mia has ended up with three costumes this year, but what girl doesn't love having options? She'll make it through all three. In the meantime, how cute are the cheerleader and the football player?


I took this right before Darek went to School - I love it


P.S. Yes, Darek was a football player last year for Halloween too. Although last year was a Dallas Cowboys jersey and this year it's a BYU football jersey. Any guesses as to who chose his costume?
And I'll be honest and say that the uniform is so big on him that it'll probably be his costume next year too :) Make it do or do without, right?

The Park

We've already had snow more than once this month, yet Saturday was possibly the most perfect day of the year. We had a great time at the park.

Blayne didn't have to take turns with anyone.
 

Mia ate dirt.
 

Darek played with this ladybug forever. He lost it after awhile and spent the rest of the day looking for it. I loved watching him concentrate on that little bug - he's rarely as still as he was for that period of time while he watched the bug crawl up his hand, onto his arm and back again. Oh, it was precious.
 

Darek had the stomach flu at the beginning of the week and I got it on Thursday. By 6pm, I had to go to Urgent Care because I hadn't been able to keep anything down for 24 hours - even a sip of water had me throwing up like crazy. The doctor gave me a shot that helped me keep down some fluids and put me to sleep - thank goodness. So now all is well and we're ready to tackle next week :)

Chubby

In order to prove that I was, in fact, chubby (as I said in my last post), I decided to post the evidence. This picture, along with several others, is rarely allowed out of hiding. But I am obligating everyone who sees this picture to post an embarassing photo of themselves on their blogs - I'm tagging all of you.

 

Basically, I started gaining the "Freshman 15" about 6 months before my Freshman year (and I didn't stop at just 15 :). The fact that I had bad hair, clothes, and make-up to complete my look was just an unfortunate coincidence. By the time I served a mission, I did have those three things under control. When I came home from the Dominican Republic, I got sick because of the changes in my diet (mainly drinking milk again) and lost weight. So there you have it. Chubby.

First Date

Friday marked 6 years since Blayne and I went on our first date. We were both working at the MTC at the time and had served in the same mission. As missionaries, Blayne thought I was chubby (which I was) and I thought he was full of himself (which he was). We worked the same shift at the MTC and our classrooms were two doors down from each other so we talked everyday. After a month and a half of working together, Blayne called me up on a Wednesday night and this is how it went:

Blayne: Steve and I are going to grab some dinner on Friday. Do you want to go?
Me: Sure.
Blayne: Are you sure you're ready for this?
Me: Ready for what?
Blayne: A date.
Me: A date? Let's not call it that.

I enjoyed hanging out with Blayne at work and I didn't want it to turn into anything more than that. But off we went on our first date on October 10, 2003. We went to eat at a small restaurant in downtown Provo with Blayne's cousin Steve and his date. After eating we went bowling. I had to admit that it was the most comfortable first date I had ever been on. We talked and talked and talked. We had a few stops and starts in our relationship after that, but we were engaged by mid-January.

So Blayne and I went to dinner on Friday night to reminisce about that first date and how far we've come. We laughed hysterically (tears running down my face) and ended up running multiple errands in an effort to stay out together as long as possible. I've certainly ended up with the man of my dreams.

Hermana Holloway and Hermano Andersen - showin' up for our shift at the MTC
 

Back when we were dating.
 

Mia is standing up on everything. I thought maybe a girl would just be sweet and cuddly and sit in my lap all day, but she could not be more wiggly. She's still a doll.
Darek tries so hard to be good, but he cannot resist pushing Mia over if she's within striking distance. Lots of timeouts for this boy.