The Gabriellas

Summer swimming

2011-06-04T21:52:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I picked up a baby pool for Cannon. He went for a swim last week and loved it!

North Carolina Trip

2011-05-30T00:10:00.000-07:00

*long, picture-overloaded post to follow*

Over the Easter holiday, we took a trip to Mark's dad's house in North Carolina. It was Mark and I's first time on a plane together and Cannon's first flight at all. I was really nervous to fly with him and of course I way over-packed, not wanting him to go without anything incase he decided to get fussy or restless. We flew from Phoenix to Florida and then to NC, but didn't have to get off of the plane in Florida.

I was happy when I saw several other babies and little kids get on the plane with us. We all happened to gather in the same section of the plane. I'm sure the other passengers were happy the noise-makers were all in one section in the back.
I'm happy to announce that my baby was the quietest, most well-behaved little one on the plane. He ate his bottle on take-off, as per our peds recommendation and then promptly fell asleep for the majority of the flight. It was 3 1/2 hours to Florida and then an hour and a half to NC from there and he did great. When he was awake he played with his toys or watched Page Master on our computer. Unfortunately we had to have a third person in the seat with us for both flights, but it worked out okay.

It was Mark's dad's first time meeting Cannon.
They have such a beautiful house.
Mark's dad did all the gardening and building up of the backyard himself.

Such a fun backyard. Lots of seating, Tiki bar, hot tub with stereo. We spent a lot of time out here.

Cute bunny!

Darlene (Big Mark's wife) and Cannon

Cannon got his very own Easter basket full of goodies.

Excited!

He got Easter eggs filled with pacifiers, which were his favorite.

Easter nap before the festivitiesOur family got dressed up and took some family pictures in the backyard.

I love this one!

My favorite

Mark's 2 aunts both live in NC too. Them and their families came over to share Easter dinner with us.

Poor tortured baby. He did look cute in his bunny ears and Easter bib though.Clean bean ready for bed

We spent one of our days at the zoo.

"Swamp Ghost" (weird albino alligator)

It was so hot and humid that Cannon went through several wardrobe changes until he ended up in his diaper to cool off. He seems pretty happy about it.

He had one more outfit, but he pooped through that one before we even got to the zoo.Looking at the giraffes. Overall, Cannon wasn't too interested in the animals. Most of them were far away, so I don't think he really saw them. There were 2 parts to the zoo (North America and Africa). We walked around Africa and took the tram through North America because after 4 hours of walking in the heat and humidity, we needed a rest and a breeze.

We had such a fun time in NC. We wish we could've stayed longer than 5 days. Cannon did just as well on the flights home. This time we had, what was supposed to be an hour layover in Nashville, which turned into 2 1/2 because of a tornado warning. The flight from NC to Nashville was crazy and so scary. The turbulence was crazy, the plane was thrashing around and bottoming out, tons of lightning. I was freaking out and Mark and Cannon slept through the whole thing. I couldn't wait to get off of that plane. We got in okay but as soon as we stepped in the terminal we hear over the speaker, "Please stay away from the windows as there is a tornado warning in effect." Awesome. Needless to say, I couldn't wait to get out of Tennessee. The flight home from there was smoother, but really long. Cannon was great. We didn't have a third person in our row, so we were able to stretch out and Cannon had his own seat. Flying with baby turned out to be way easier than I anticipated, so next time I won't worry or pack everything he owns...

My Easter Bunny rocks!

2011-05-29T23:42:00.001-07:00

or maybe I have an Easter Mouse because I sure got a lot of cheese in my basket...

2011-05-29T22:45:00.000-07:00

Cannon and I are pretty much mini-golf pros!

Finally finished and ready to burn

2011-05-29T22:07:00.001-07:00

Like the post title says, we finally finished re-finishing this dining room table and chairs that we mixed and matched off of Craigslist and it took so long and was so frustrating that I wanted nothing more than to burn the whole set. Needless to say, this will be my last furniture up-cycle project. Who would've thought a little sanding, staining and painting could be so difficult and time consuming. Okay, enough complaining.

Here she is...(and I'm not even sure I like her yet)

There's another chair, but apparently we never got around to finishing it because I just saw it in the garage this morning.

I decided to do the table a light blue on top and Heirloom white on the bottom. (Our kitchen is currently red, white and aqua, but I thought aqua was a bit bright for a table top.) The bench top and chair seats are a dark ebony stain and the bench legs and chair bodies are black.
Mark did most of the work (sanding, staining, painting table base). I painted and distressed the table top and distressed the legs.
The little yarn drawer pull is my favorite part.

I'm not sure if the light and dark work together. It's sort of a mash-up of many things I was liking at the time, but I think each day it's growing on me. It only took us about 3 months of work, stare at, hate, let sit because we hate, then work again, to finish this beast. Next time though, I'll just spend the extra money and buy something already finished that I like.

One of my proudest moments as a wife

2011-03-31T02:41:00.001-07:00

In honor of Mustache March, Mark grew out the beard for the month. Now we need your help in deciding what level of facial hair stays for April. Leave a comment with your favorite number and whichever receives the most votes will be making an appearance in April.

(I'm sure you'll all be on the edges of your seats waiting for the results...)

No fun

2011-03-18T20:39:00.000-07:00

(Long story to follow...feel free to skip)

These last few days have been no fun, for us and especially for Cannon. Little Man has been so sick. It started almost 10 days ago with some cold symptoms (cough, fever, watery eyes) and slowly got worse throughout the week. We went to the doctor last week when his fever was 101.5 but they said it's prolly a cold and we should just wait it out. He did okay until Wednesday night. Poor baby was up most of the night screaming and coughing and miserable. He is not a crier and so for him to be crying most of the night meant he was really not feeling well. His fever was back, the cough was much worse, runny nose, gagging, wouldn't eat much, couldn't sleep. It was the saddest thing EVER. I cried with him. We called the nurse first thing in the morning and were able to get in pretty quick. After checking Cannon over, the doctor said he had an ear infection and also wanted to send him to get blood work done (CBC and blood culture) and a chest xray just to be sure everything was okay. We went to the lab to get his blood drawn and of course he finally fell asleep while we were waiting. We could tell the man that called us back was nervous about drawing blood from a 5-month-old and were glad when he called in a more experienced woman to do it. We woke Cannon up and I held him on my lap. He screamed when they tied the band on his arm, but actually did okay when she stuck him with the needle. It was so sad to watch. Next we went to get the chest xray done. This was even harder than the blood draw because I couldn't be with him. Mark and I had to wait outside the room. It was unsettling to have a strange woman take my baby into another room without me. We could hear him crying through the door and I paced the hall while they were gone. Luckily it was quick. All of his tests were ordered STAT so we were able to get the results at the end of the day. The chest xray was normal, but his labs were off. They said he had some kind of infection so the doc called in an antibiotic for Cannon and told us to come back the next day to check on him again. We started his medicine and last night was better. He slept a little more and didn't cry as much, but could only sleep if he was held. Thankfully, when Cannon woke up today he was pretty happy. We went to the doctor and his fever was down a little and the doc said he looked much better than yesterday. He took lots of small naps today and still didn't eat much, but was able to do his normal bedtime routine (bath, pj's, book, prayers) and get to bed on time in his crib, so he must be feeling better. When things like this happen, I'm so thankful for Mark's good job that allows us to have insurance, doctors close by, the priesthood, and motherly instinct that all help in getting Little Man better.

5 months

2011-03-02T08:40:00.000-08:00

Cannon is 5 months old today. The time just flew by me. I can't believe how big he is getting. I love this age right now. He's so fun and getting a lot more active and loves to play all the time.

At 5 months, Cannon can:

-Laugh and squeal

-Roll from his tummy to his back

-Sleep through the night

-Put his feet in his mouth

-Occasionally, pick up his pacifier and put it in his mouth himself

-Hold on to his toys and get them to his mouth

-Sit up in the Bumbo

Just recently Cannon has started eating solids (rice cereal and squash) and the other day we had a few firsts, being:

-Rolling from his back to his tummy without any help

-Pooping on Mommy

Thanks baby, Mommy loves you too!

Diapers.com

2011-02-16T20:06:00.000-08:00

If you use the code EMBS5922 at Diapers.com you will receive 30% cash back on diapers for 3 months and 15% off everything else on your first purchase. If you are thinking about shopping on there it would help me out to get some free cash. Thanks!

Pampers Village: Connect with real parents like you!

2011-02-14T15:07:00.001-08:00

"Love those Pampers!"

On Pampers Village, you can share tips, support, and experiences with real parents like you. You’ll discover more about parenthood through articles, videos, and online tools, and receive offers, samples, and coupons!

View >>

2011-02-03T19:11:00.000-08:00

Well tonight I finally sold my "interesting"ly tall dining table and now my craigslist selling spree is finally coming to a close with only one item left (for now). It's a compact elliptical machine. It's barely been used and folds up to store easier. Any takers? We are selling it for $60.

"Interesting"

2011-01-29T00:35:00.000-08:00

Here's a texting conversation I had with some stranger regarding my dining table I listed on craigslist the other day. ($50 by the way if you're interested)

Buyer: How tall is your table

Me: 2 1/2 feet

Buyer: From the ground up?

Me: Yes

Buyer: Interesting

Really? Is it?...

My Family

2011-01-26T21:56:00.000-08:00

This was the day of Cannon's Blessing

I love this boy!

2011-01-08T15:22:00.000-08:00

Walters' Family Christmas Party

2011-01-04T23:47:00.000-08:00

Every year we attend the Walters' Family Christmas Gift Exchange. Everyone brings a gift and we do a White Elephant exchange. It can sometimes get pretty competitive and some of the gifts are hilarious. The last 2 years we've made out with some really good stuff. Last year we got an Oneida silverware set and a set of 100 cookie cutters. This year we got a whole bunch of DVDs and an ITunes gift card. We always have lots of fun.

Tai and her boys

Grandpa Walters
Jo (Mark's mom) and Grandma Walters

Mark's cousin Shay and her husband and Justin Bieber

Prescott, AZ trip

2011-01-04T23:23:00.000-08:00

The weekend before Christmas, we took a trip up to Prescott, aZ to visit Mark's grandparents. We love going to their house and were excited to spend part of the Christmas season with them. We spent a good part of our day making Christmas cookies. The kids had fun rolling out the dough and using the cookie cutters. We must've cut out at least 100 cookies.

Even the littlest ones joined in.

Makaela got attacked by a bag of flour

After the cookies cooled we frosted all of them. The kids were very creative.

Some of the finished products

(Mark was so proud of his football)

My family

Grandma and Grandpa with the grandkids

We really enjoyed our relaxing weekend and can't wait to go back up when it snows.

Christmas Eve

2011-01-04T23:18:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve we went to see the Mesa Temple Lights with Mark's mom and Don. I love seeing the Temple Lights each year. They always add more things everytime we go. I loved that this year they brought back the Nativity Scenes from around the world.

Cannon was nice and warm in his fuzzy bear outfit. I was glad we had a reason to put him in it cause it's so cute.

Christmas Morning

2011-01-04T23:02:00.000-08:00

We had so much to do Christmas Eve that we were still up at 2 in the morning, so we decided to open our presents. Cannon woke up to eat anyway, so he got to join us.

Pretty much all of the gifts under the tree were for Cannon. He got lots of fun things for Christmas. Of course Daddy got him the Suns onesies.

We're so grateful to everyone for our wonderful gifts. Christmas was great this year!

Christmas Brunch

2011-01-04T22:24:00.000-08:00

We did our traditional Christmas brunch again at my mom and dad's with Mark's family and the Gutterys.

Playing some mini pool

A few of the Guttery girls with Cannon
Nichelle and Andrew

Daniel took a liking to Shaina

Julie and Tessa are good friends

Mark and I with my mom

2 sleeping Grandpas

New Year's Eve

2011-01-04T21:26:00.000-08:00

We celebreated New Year's with Mark's family. His 2 sisters and their families came over to our house for some Wii and fireworks. We sat in our garage while the guys put on a firework show in the alley behind the house. It was freezing outside so the kids and me bundled up in the back of the car. Daniel huddled with Nichelle and Makaela

Firework Technician #1

a little DSi while she waited

Me and all the kids

The younger kids did sparklers after the fireworks were done

Our awesome firework show. I have to say it was better than the Gilbert firework show we saw last 4th of July.

The remnants

Christmas Party

2011-01-04T20:14:00.000-08:00

(This post is totally out of order, but I was too lazy to redo it)

We started our Christmas season off with an Ugly Sweater party at our house. We had a few friends and family over for dinner, games and gingerbread house decorating. We had a lot of fun.

My Christmas Tree

(I decided to tone it down this year and only use red, green and white)

Our stockings

(It's probably hard to tell who gets which one-Mickey is Cannon, middle is me, and Ninja Turtle is Mark)

We had plenty of Christmas cookies
Oregano's for dinner. Love that Pesto Pizza and Pablo Picasso salad.
Everyone decorated a mini gingerbread house and we voted on whose was the best. It got pretty intense during the decorating.
Dani and Brennan (with baby Reese Riding)

Brye and Spencer + Brye's baby bump

(They were the winners)

Makaela

Andrew

Sienna

(Her house came in 2nd)

Traci and Clint

My family in our lovely Christmas attire

The whole gang

Kids says the darndest things

2010-12-21T00:51:00.000-08:00

I'm writing this down cause I don't want to forget it. I'm not sure if my sister-in-law will want this shared but I thought it was hilarious. Her 3 year old girl is almost potty trained and hasn't pooped in her pull up in a while. She is good about always going in the bathroom. So the other night we were at the Grandparent's house in Prescott playing a board game and Nichelle, Sienna's mom, checked Sienna and she had pooped in her pull up. While Nichelle was changing her, we hear Sienna say, "Mom, someone got poop on me." Funniest thing I've ever heard.

2 months old

2010-12-03T14:38:00.000-08:00

Who could resist this face???Our little guy is getting so big so fast. He just had his 2 month well baby visit at the doctor and he had to get 3 shots. It was so sad. I cried before they even poked him. He screamed of course. I let daddy hold his arms during the shot and I picked him up afterward. Daddy got to be the bad guy for the day.

Cannon's 2 month stats:

9 lbs, 11oz

21 3/4 in long

He is smiling at us all the time and even dishes out some smiles for Grandpa once in a while. Tonight when I laid him down for some tummy time, he rolled over! I was so surprised and once again I cried. I cry over everything he does. I cried when he finally fit into his 0-3 month clothes because he is getting so big. I'm a baby I guess.

Cannon is so funny because he hates to have his hands covered up. I put him in one of these swaddlers and wrap his arms inside and this is how he ends up.

Heard Museum

2010-12-03T14:14:00.000-08:00

Mark had to write a paper for his World Religions class which gave us the opportunity to visit the Heard Museum on Thanksgiving Day. I wish we had more time to spend there because the place was huge and there was a lot we didn't get to see. The museum is in Phoenix and is all about Native American culture.

2010-11-24T23:52:00.000-08:00

We finally made it to church. Cannon was quite the handsome little man.

Love this face!

2010-11-10T07:19:00.000-08:00

Cannon's 1st Real Bath

2010-10-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

We gave Cannon his first bath the other night since his umbilical stump finally fell off. He didn't mind it at all. I was totally nervous the whole time cause he seems so small in the bath chair but we did good.

Labor & Delivery

2010-10-18T00:35:00.000-07:00

October 2nd:

I was laying in bed around 6:30 in the morning and felt 3 pretty intense contractions in a row, which I hadn't felt before and I thought to myself, "I think my water is going to break." I'm not sure how I knew, but I was right. At 7am, my water broke in bed. I woke Mark up to tell him and of course he asked if I was sure I didn't just pee the bed. I was pretty positive I didn't cause the waterworks weren't just a one time thing. Mark wasn't so convinced obviously because he rolled over and went back to sleep for a little bit. I got up to shower and get ready. We already had things packed for the hospital so we weren't in a panic or rush to get out of the house. We left for the hospital about an hour after my water broke. When we pulled up to the hospital ER entrance, we were stopped and asked if we were there for the car show. There was a car show going on in the hospital parking lot. Weird, I know. We were told to go to the second entrance, so we did and were stopped again and asked about the car show. We told them we were going to the ER and finally made it into the parking lot where we were stopped yet again. I was getting a little impatient by this time so when the guy asked who we were with for the car show, I sort of snapped that we were there to have a baby, not see the car show.

We registered in the ER and were sent up to Labor & Delivery triage to make sure my water did break and to see how far along I was. The nurse confirmed my water broke and that I was between 3 and 4 cm dilated. They set us up in our room and gave me a Cytotech to keep my contractions progressing. I wasn't feeling much pain at this point.
My nurse wanted me to walk around for an hour before they hooked me up to the monitors. The walking got my contractions going and I started to feel some pain, but not too bad.
After we walked for an hour, we went back to the room and got hooked up to the monitors and I was given an IV. Then we waited. I tried to sleep, but didn't have much luck. Mark just hung out and did some homework. My contractions slowly started to get worse. A few hours later, the nurse came to check my progress and I was at 6cm. Not too long after that, the contractions got really bad. Up until then, I'd been able to breathe through them pretty well, but they started coming really close together and were super painful. I called the nurse and asked if I was able to get the epidural yet. She said I could've had it whenever I wanted, which would've been nice to know sooner...lol. She called the anesthesiologist and he came pretty quickly. Getting the epidural was the worst part of the whole labor because I had to sit perfectly still in a really uncomfortable position while my contractions were still coming. It didn't take too long for the epidural to kick in. Life was pretty good after that. My body felt really strange because I would touch my legs or my stomach but wouldn't be able to feel them.

Around 9pm, the nurse checked my progress and I was at 10cm, so we decided I could start pushing. I did a few pushes with the nurse and then we waited a little bit for my doctor to come in. Pushing was a little difficult with the epidural because I couldn't feel if I was doing anything or not. The nurse would say, "Just like that or keep doing that" and I would have no idea what she was talking about. I must've been doing something right because I pushed for about 20 minutes after my doctor came in the room and then Cannon was born at 9:49pm. I didn't feel any pain with the pushing which was nice. I did end up having to have an episiotomy, which I was dreading, but the recovery from that hasn't been too bad. The moment when he was born and they put him up on my chest was so amazing. Instant love. We all cried of course. I just couldn't believe how tiny he was and how much hair he had.

Cannon Charles Gabriella

Weight: 6lbs, 11oz

Length: 19inches

Cannon did great. He was 10 days early, but was perfectly healthy.

Mark holding Cannon for the first time

Dr. Kale

My labor and delivery went almost exactly as I had hoped. My water broke, which I was hoping to experience, I made it through some pretty good pain on my own and then had the epidural and all was smooth sailing after that. I was so happy to have my mom there with Mark and I too. I couldn't have asked for a better experience and a sweeter baby.

Baby Shower

2010-09-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

On Saturday some great friends and family threw me a baby shower. It was so nice and they did such a good job.

The food was yummy

My mom's visiting teacher, Kathleen, made a diaper cake as well as Mark's sister, Nichelle.
The decorations were so cute. I loved the banner that said "Baby Boys Bring Joys".

I was given some great things. A lot of them were handmade which was really special.

My mama and me

All the babies playing together. I love that most of us girls from highschool have babies or are pregnant. It's so fun to see how far we've all come.

Higley girls

2010-09-11T14:28:00.001-07:00

Nursery Pictures

2010-09-03T01:15:00.000-07:00

Finally, the nursery is done!

Mark had to get his Book of Mormom action figures in there

2010-08-31T11:46:00.000-07:00

This morning we were able to babysit our nephew, Daniel, who is almost 18 months. He is so fun and easy-going. We just love him!

2010-08-31T11:30:00.001-07:00

I can't believe we only have 6 weeks left!!!

new projects

2010-08-27T20:27:00.001-07:00

I recently finished a few projects for the nursery. We had some empty shelf space to use, so I made a few things to take up the space.

My phone camera is awful so the picture doesn't do it justice. I got this project from my ward's Relief Society Super Saturday. It is a wooden block with some paper and a temple picture put onto it with modge podge and then vinyl lettering on top. I added the buttons to make it a little cuter.

This next one, I love! The colors turned out perfect for his room. It is the important ages in a boys life; 8-when you are baptized, 12-when you receive the priesthood, and 19-when you go on a mission. I wish I could say I came up with the idea on my own, but alas, I'm not that creative. I saw something similar at Deseret Book and changed it to how I liked it.

Temple progress

2010-08-18T21:59:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday Mark and I went and took a picture in front of where the new Temple will be built in Gilbert. We thought it would be fun to have some before and after pictures to show the future kiddos.

Diaper bag

2010-08-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

I just found this gem the other day at a boutique in Mesa. It seemed like a diaper bag was one of the hardest purchases to commit to. Luckily I found one that I love!

CA Baby Shower

2010-08-07T12:43:00.000-07:00

My Aunt Kathie threw me a baby shower last weekend in California. It was tons of fun and we really enjoyed seeing all of my family.

The cake was decorated like the vinyl tree we just put up in the nursery.
We played a few games. Memory and the belly measuring game.

And gifts of course. We got some great things!

It was so much fun! Thanks again Aunt Kathie and everyone that helped out with the shower. We love you all!

2010-07-30T23:21:00.001-07:00

Mark is, at the moment, eating a disgusting amount of Chicken a la King for one person

2010-07-23T14:54:00.000-07:00

Here's our little guy at 28weeks. We had what will probably be our last ultrasound today and were able to see a 3D view. The tech said based on all of his measurements, he's coming in at just under 3 lbs, which is in the 60th percentile. The big bulge by his face is the umbilical cord. We couldn't get it to move out of the way unfortunately, but she was still able to get a pretty clear shot of his face.

Hello carbs

2010-07-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

This morning I was looking through the cupboards and fridge to find something to eat and I discovered that we have way to much bread in the house for 2 people, too much bread even for 5 people. Not sure how this happened...

Hamburger buns, hot dog buns, sourdough, italian, wheat, bagels, and sandwich rounds

Ridiculous

The Nursery

2010-07-01T20:39:00.000-07:00

The baby's room is almost finished. We got all of the furniture put together (crib, dresser/changer combo with a hutch and rocking chair, courtesy of Gma Lois). Today I ordered a big vinyl tree to put up on the wall and now all we need is the crib mattress and our baby boy is set. More photos to come when it's all put together.

The tree is from Smiley Walls found on Etsy

Pincushions

2010-06-22T13:09:00.001-07:00

Back to sewing my week away. I wanted to make some pincushions because I don't have any, so I found a few tutorials online. The patchword pincushion came from here and the tiny pincushion came from here.

2010-06-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

Just made baby a small taggie blanket via this website. Turned out pretty well if I do say so myself, except I sewed the whole thing shut before turning it inside-out. I just love pulling out stitches. Here is the blanket I made before. I used some of the left over fabric to make the matching taggie blanket. They are both super soft with one side flannel and the other is called ultra cuddle fleece I believe.

Belly Time

2010-06-15T19:03:00.000-07:00

Sadly this was the first belly picture we took at 21 weeks. It grows everyday...

Finished project

2010-06-10T11:37:00.000-07:00

I finished my burp cloth sewing project. I made 6 total, 2 of each pattern. They turned out really well and were super easy with the sewing maching. I'm excited to use them with my little one. Now I'm onto sewing a blanket.

First attempt at sewing

2010-06-04T17:56:00.000-07:00

SUCCESS!

I found a tutorial online to make these simple baby burp cloths and thought that would be a cute project for me to fill some of my time. I inherited my Grandmother's sewing machine when she passed away recently and I have been wanting to learn to use it. I just made my first one and so far so good. My seams are a little crooked, but I'm sure it will get better the more I make. 1 down, 5 more to go.

Random things that make me laugh

2010-06-02T18:26:00.000-07:00

A herd of goats grazing on the front lawn of the church, completely unattended.

I was driving past the building on Sossaman and Germann and noticed several goats just hanging around. Some were eating, others laying in the shade. No owner in sight. The Sheriff of Queen Creek stopped by to see what I was looking at and said he would find out where they came from. I felt like I needed to stay with them until someone could come and help...lol Mark helped the Mayor of Queen Creek load his ice cream machine in the back of a truck after a wedding reception and was given a gold shovel. Us playing a Minute to Win It game that was pretty uneventful, but seemed so stressful and competitive at the time. You had a minute to get so many ping pong balls to stick to 2 pieces of bread with peanut butter on them.

More Vegas wedding pictures

2010-05-26T11:49:00.000-07:00

The men showing some leg

Us girls

Mark and I (looks like Prom)

Vegas Wedding Trip

2010-05-17T20:35:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we spent the weekend in Las Vegas. Mark's dad was getting married and they invited all of us over to be there with them. The weekend was a total blast. Very tiring for me of course with all the walking and late nights, but definitely worth it. We left Friday morning and took the was that went over Hoover Dam. The new bridge they are building to bypass the Dam was scary looking. I don't think I'd make it over it.

When we arrived in Vegas, we met up with Mark's dad and his new wife and we took a limo to get their marriage license and then took a tour of the chapel where they were getting married the next day. Afterwards, we met up with everyone at PINK'S Hotdogs at Planet Hollywood and shared some crazy good hotdogs. Some had sauerkraut, some had nacho cheese and jalapenos, some had guacamole and salsa. It was an interesting experience. I stuck with a plain dog so as not to upset baby.

After PINK'S, we did some window shopping at the Miracle Mile in Planet Hollywood and then headed down the strip to explore. We watched the Sirens of TI show at Treasure Island, did more window shopping at Caesar's Palace, and watched some line dancing and bull riding at Gilley's. Mark's sister and I headed up to bed around 1:30a at our hotel, Paris, and our husband's stayed downstairs to gamble away our money. The hotel was really nice.

It was the weekend of the Miss USA pageant, so there were contestants running around the hotel. These were actually the Miss Teen USA contestants though.

Saturday was the day of the wedding and of course I don't have pictures. I forgot our camera and haven't gotten the ones other people took yet. We had lunch at the Harley Davidson cafe, which was really good. We got dressed for the wedding, which was formal, and took the limo to the chapel. The ceremony was perfect. You can watch it here https://plan.littlechapel.com/Guests/Default.aspx?PlanID=653899

We took lots of pictures afterwards and then headed to Planet Hollywood to have dinner at Koi. The food was amazing. Edamame to start, then some Tempura and I had the Lamb. It was some of the best food I've ever had. It's a good thing we don't have one here cause we'd go broke eating out there. After dinner I had to rest in the hotel for a bit and then we headed down to Heart Bar in Planet Hollywood for some dancing 'til 2am. It was a really good day! The baby must have liked the bass in the bar because when we got back to the hotel to sleep he just kept kicking me. He'll be dancing his way out in October.

Sunday was our last day and we just took it easy. We did the buffet at MGM Grand and went to the M&M and Coke factories and then headed home. Fun trip. I'll need a week to recover now. I'll post more pictures once some one emails them to me.

It's a.....

2010-05-10T21:40:00.000-07:00

BOY!!!

I won't humiliate our little guy before he's even born by showing a picture of his boy parts, but there was no doubt he was a boy. We are so excited and couldn't be happier. Two of Mark's sisters have had boys recently and have been kind enough to pass along lots of clothes, so we are set for a while.

We decided that since we finally knew what we were having, that we had to go out and buy him something and this is what we ended up with, of course. His first basketball. Mark found it at the store and was very excited about it.

My mother-to-be day

2010-05-09T20:53:00.000-07:00

So even though I'm just a mother-to-be, Mark treated me well today. He got up early before church and put my chicken for enchiladas in the crock pot and after church, he made me some chex mix muddy buddies, which I've been wanting for the past week. It was a nice surprise.
Tomorrow is the big day for us because we find out if we are having a boy or a girl!

waiting, waiting, waiting

2010-05-04T11:19:00.001-07:00

6 more days until our ultrasound to see if we will have a girl or boy. I wish it would come sooner.

2010-04-25T19:57:00.000-07:00

Mark's family

Boy or Girl?

2010-04-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

I had a doctor's appointment on Monday and everything went well. Baby's heartbeat was good and they let us schedule our anatomy ultrasound for 3 weeks. We are so excited to find out what we are having!

Elder Michael Anthony Gabriella

2010-04-21T19:23:00.001-07:00

Today, Mark's younger brother left for his mission in Rosario, Argentina. We are really going to miss him.

2010-03-31T17:54:00.000-07:00

We just thought we'd share a picture of our tiny 5.77cm baby. This was from my appointment today. He (and when I say "he", I mean "it", but I feel bad saying "it") is actually looking more human-like and less tadpole-ish. Part of the ultrasound was 3D, so I was able to see him move his arms and legs. The tech made me cough and the poor little guy would bounce up and down. I felt bad. I'm finally out of my 1st trimester and hoping the 2nd will bring with it more energy and an appetite. We are trying to get our house back in order since Mark's sister and her kids moved out recently. It feels like we are moving in all over again, which is fun because Mark wasn't here the first time I moved in to the house. Things are good and we are having fun being on our own again.

Show Low trip

2010-02-06T22:45:00.001-08:00

Mark and I were able to go out of town one last time before he starts work again, so we decided to go play in the snow in Show Low.

Salt River Canyon

We spotted an awesome sledding spot off to the side of the road. The snow was so high it covered the STOP and NO TRESSPASSING signs, which is my excuse for why we went back there. I was so nervous about getting in trouble though, that Mark only got to go down the hill a few times before we left to find a legal location.

We waited to spend all day sledding until Monday when all the kids would be in school. The hill we went to was empty, so we had it all to ourselves.

We had a fun time just being lazy in the hotel room, eating at random country cafes, shopping and sledding. Somehow, whenever we go out of town, no matter where we go, we end up at the same stores that we have here in the valley. We made a trip to Bealls, or Bells, not sure which one it is, and Mark bought 3 nice pairs of dress slacks, all Dockers, and 3 or 4 dress shirts for only $90. It was such a good deal.

Game night

2010-02-06T21:14:00.000-08:00

At the end of January we attended a dinner and game night at Danica and Brennan's house. We had some good mexican food (enchiladas, rice, beans, tacos, guac, salsa and layered bean dip) and played a little Wii.

Here's the group: me and Mark, Brennan and Dani, Spencer and Brye, Jessi and Derek (we were missing Jenna, Devon and Londyn, who had to leave early)

And then there was this little gem...

Baby Blessing

2010-01-18T19:22:00.001-08:00

A few weekends ago we attended Mark's nephew's baby blessing out in Maricopa. Afterwards we went to his sister's house for breakfast.

Here's the happy family (Tai, Zac, baby Kamren and Kegan)

Kegan is such a cutie! The kids had fun on the trampoline
Family photo
(missing: Andrew, Brandi, Daniel)

New Years Eve

2010-01-18T18:51:00.001-08:00

We spent New Years with friends. We went to dinner at My Big Fat Greek Restaurant with Danica and Brennan, Rachel and Nathaniel, and Kayla and Chad. It was good food and lots of fun. OPA! We ended up back at Dani and Brennan's to bring in the New Year. We played Wii most of the time and started a game of Imaginiff. When it was time for the countdown we gathered in the kitchen with our party hats and sparkling cider ready to toast. Good times!

The noisemakers took me back to my childhood days

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We all look like we had more than just sparkling cider in our glasses

Mark and Brennan getting a little too friendly

It was a really fun night!

Christmas Time

2009-12-29T18:48:00.000-08:00

We started our Christmas celebrations off with the annual Walters' Family Christmas Party at Grandma and Grandpa Walters' house. All of Mark's family comes to do a white elephant gift exchange. The adults are one group and the kids play their own. Mark made out with a new silverware set, which we need because one little girl that lives with us (won't mention any names) seems to throw them away often and we also got a 101 cookie cutter set (which I brought and got back).

Grandma Walters ended up with this gem that Mark and I brought. I think she later gave it to Mark's niece, Makaela.

A few nights before Christmas, the Gutterys came to my mom and dad's house to visit. Kayla and Breea sang a beautiful song, which I would have on here if my computer wasn't being so slow.

Mark and I spent the night at my parent's house so we could be there with them Christmas morning. Funnily enough I got Mark and Xbox 360 for Christmas and he got me a Wii.

Christmas day we had our annual brunch at my mom and dad's house. Mark's family was there and the Gutterys joined us this year too.

Here's Dad and Daniel together.

Julianna, Bill, Tessa

Mark's sister Tai and her baby Kamren

Zac, Don, Mike

My dad's new jacket from Bill

Tai made Sienna this cute tutu for Christmas

Daniel's progress

2009-12-16T09:43:00.000-08:00

Daniel Tillman Gabriella turned 9 months on Sunday. He is still in the hospital and probably will be through Christmas. I thought I would share a photo timeline of his hospital stay. It all started with a check up with his pediatrician at 8 months. They said his head circumference was about 4inches larger that normal and because of that, they set him up to get a CT of his head. On Thursday, Dec. 3rd, my mom and I took him to Banner Desert Cardon's Children Center to get his CT. They told us to wait around to make sure the radiologist got all the images he needed. I never suspected anything to be abnormal because he is the perfect baby. Always happy and playful and getting ready to crawl. When the tech told me Daniel's pediatrician was on the phone and wanted to speak to me I knew something wasn't right. The pediatrician told me the CT showed a mass in Daniel's brain. They were going to admit him right away to the hospital. My heart broke hearing those words, not only for Daniel, but because we had just received the same knews about my mom only 6 months ago and it was cancer. I had to make the tough call to Brandi to let her know the news. Of course she rushed to the hospital, running out on her very first day at a new job. They admitted Daniel to the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) at Cardon's.

This was right after he was set up in his PICU room. Looking at him, you'd never know anything was wrong. They put him in a little mini hospital gown. The physician came in to examine him and then the pediatric neurosurgeon. They planned to do surgery early next morning to remove the tumor, which we were told was 10x9x6cm, taking up the greater part of the left side of his head. Fortunately, the tumor was not taking over the brain, but just pushing it aside.

This was right after Daniel came out of his 8 hour long surgery. The surgeon was able to remove the entire tumor. Daniel had a feeding tube and breathing tube placed to help during his recovery. Although he was sedated, he still responded to people's voices. I was thrilled when I came in to see him and he smiled when I started talking to him.

A few days later, the doctors discovered that fluid was building up in Daniel's head and that he had a blood clot which was preventing fluid from draining the way it should. They did a procedure in his room to draw out 120cc of fluid, but it didn't last and he had to go back to surgery to place a drain in his head and remove the blood clot.

Finally they were able to remove the breathing and feeding tubes and Brandi was able to hold her baby boy. He was real groggy for a while and slept most of the time. After waiting over the weekend to get the results back on what the tumor was, the news was devastating. It was cancer. Anaplastic Astrocytoma. A very rare and aggressive cancer that is rarely seen in babies. The doctors were not sure how to treat and are seeking a second opinion. Daniel is too young to receive radiation, which is really the only thing that could help, so chemotherapy may be the only option, but may not help at all. Most likely, they will monitor Daniel over the next few months to see if the tumor grows again and then make a decision as to how to proceed.

I finally got to hold him after a week of not having him around. It was so nice. I miss that sweet boy so much.

We have seen such a vast improvement in Daniel. He is up and playing with toys and smiling all day long now. Back to his old self. It is so good to see. He has had a few more small hiccups on the way, such as minimal seizures, but he is on medication now to control them. This is a picture Brandi sent me this morning. Daniel still has the drain in his head and a PICC line in his arm, but he is able to be held whenever Brandi wants. They are supposed to be turning the drain off today and monitoring him to see if he can get rid of the fluid on his own. If all goes well, his drain will be removed tomorrow.

Since Daniel will be in the hospital for Christmas, we thought he deserved a baby tree. Other family members had added their decorations to his room as well.

We are so grateful for the surge of support and service that Brandi and Daniel and even Mark and I have received from family, friends, and most of all our ward family. We are so blessed to all be together and here for each other during this difficult time. I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us, including Daniel. Daniel has a purpose to serve here on Earth and everything happens for a reason, even if we can't see what that is. We pray that he will make a full recovery and want to thank all for their prayers and support. See Daniel's blog for regular updates on his condition.

Ward Christmas Party

2009-12-15T22:58:00.000-08:00

Last Friday we attended our Ward Christmas Party. The gym was decorated as Whoville from How the Grinch Stole Christmas. They made a video of the Grinch and changed all the words to include the topic of service and added people from our ward to the story. It was great. After the movie was over, we got a surprise as a picture of Daniel in the hospital popped up on the screen. Bishop Smith got up and told the ward Daniel's situation and asked everyone to pray for him and the family. It was so nice! Of course Mark and I were crying. Our ward has really impressed us with all of their kind words and service as we go through this trial. Khera and Julie had a good time running around with all their friends and stuffing themselves with candy and cookies.

Julie had so many treats that she threw up that night. Poor girl!

HALLOWEEN

2009-11-10T18:04:00.000-08:00

We spent Halloween with Brandi and the kids this year. Friday before was our ward Trunk-or-Treat which turned out nicely. Nichelle, Sienna and Makaela joined us too. The kids got to play games, go on a costume parade and of course, get lots of candy.

It was a race to see who could use a straw and blow a fish to the end first. Khera actually won a goldfish, which sadly, is no longer with us.

Sienna played the bean bag toss and as you could guess from her close proximity to the board, never missed.

Khera won musical chairs. Pretty much, our girls dominated at the games that night.

The pumpkin missed the festivities

Halloween night we all went to Desert Mountain Park in Queen Creek for their annual carnival and Trunk-or-Treat. I have to say that the trunk-or-treat line was longer than Disneyland, but there was lots of fun stuff to do. Bounce House, petting zoo, train ride, rock climbing wall, games and food.

After the park, Mark and I met up with Mike and headed out for some grown up fun. We ended up at Hooters with The Webers for some pool and wings. Nichelle kindly shared her Halloween treats with us. Next year we decided we would be a little more creative with our costumes.

Some totally random things

2009-10-29T00:46:00.000-07:00

I made Halloween cupcakes last week for Khera's birthday. Mark did an awesome job on the white chocolate spider webs. This is the most random thing but I thought it was so weird. The one in jeans is Mark and the other is Mike. They showed up to Nichelle's each wearing two different socks that happened to be the matches for each other. Such a random event.
Today we went to the park after I picked up the kids from school and I decided to take a few pictures. They turned out so cute after a little editing if I do say so myself.

Not sure what he was looking at...

This is my favorite picture of all time. How cute is he??!!!

Cute Kegan and Sienna getting ready for prayers

Fall Break

2009-10-18T22:55:00.000-07:00

My nieces were on Fall Break all last week, so we tried to find things to do to occupy our time. Monday our day was spent taking my mom to her appointments and hanging out at her house. Tuesday we went to the fabric store and picked out fleece so the girls could make these easy no-sew blankets. They did such a good job picking out 2 fabrics each, one print and one solid. They were so easy to make. The hardest part was cutting all the fringe around the edges of the blanket. First you put the 2 backs of each piece of fabric together and then cut a 4x4in square from each corner. Then around all 4 sides, cut 1in wide, 4in deep strips. I laid a tape measure on the floor to make the cutting easier.
When all the cutting was done we tied overhand knots on every other set of fringe and then turned the blanket over and tied the rest of the knots. I double knotted them all.

They turned out so cute! I want to make one for myself now. We might make matching pillows too if we have time.Wednesday we met Mark for lunch at Arizona Mills and then saw "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs". The kids liked it. I thought it was a little weird. Thankfully the baby slept through the whole movie. If I was smart I would've napped too. Thursday we didn't do much because I felt pretty crappy. I let the girls pick out a project from Michaels. They both chose to paint those imitation stained glass things that you hang in the window. Friday we met Mark again for lunch and then I surprised the kids and took them to BounceU. They had tons of fun. It was a good week. Unfortunately I got sick with the flu or something and have been down the whole weekend, but thankfully my antibiotics are kicking in and I should be up by tomorrow.

This video cracks me up. We were playing Pass the Pigs with Khera and Julianna and Daniel thought it was so funny when you rolled the pigs. I'd never heard him laugh so hard before. It was so cute! I love babies.

New Baby

2009-08-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

Mark's sister, Tai, just had her second baby. They named him Kamren Blaze. We went to the hospital last night to see them. Mark was scared to hold him cause he's so tiny, but he did a good

job.

Where to start...

2009-06-22T17:34:00.001-07:00

This post is going to be very long since the last time I posted was May, so I'll sum up our activities first so you don't have to read it all if you don't want or have time to. My mom was diagnosed, just before Father's Day, with Stage IV non-small cell adenocarcinoma (the most advanced lung cancer), I quit my job to take care of my nieces and nephew and my mom, Mark's sister and her 3 kids (who I'm taking care of) moved in with us, Mark starts a new job next week. Just in the last month and a half our entire lives have been completely turned upside down. I guess I'll start back in June with the backache.

So my mom was originally watching Mark's nieces and nephew (ages 6, 5, and 4 months). She had been having losts of trouble with her back. It hurt her all the time and was limiting her ability to move around, which wasn't good considering she was watching a new baby. She went to her family practitioner (or the other guy who works in the practice actually) and he prescribed her over the course of a few weeks several different muscle relaxers, which weren't doing much for her other than making her feel really out of it and sick. She decided to stop taking them altogether. While this had been going on, she was starting to lose motion in one of her legs and began to walk with a limp. One day she called me in tears, as she had just fallen down in the bathroom. Later I learned that she had been falling often since her leg had started to lose function. Then, on a Friday night after partying at Dave & Buster's with Dani and Brennan, I got a call from my Dad at 1am saying he had brought my mom to the ER at Mercy Gilbert. He said he had found her on the bathroom floor and she was unable to move her leg at all. She couldn't even help him get her up and back onto the bed. The ER doc did some tests, including a chest x-ray and CT scan. When the results came back we were shocked. They told us my mom had what appeared to be 4 "masses" in her brain with some swelling around them. Brain tumors??? We couldn't believe it. I was expecting to hear she had a pinched nerve or something wrong with a disc, but never would I have imagined I would hear that my mom had brain tumors. We knew it was serious when the doc told us they were trying to get my mom transferred to a hospital with a neurosurgery unit. So after several hours in the ER they were able to get her a room at Scottsdale Osborn. The ambulance took her up there with all of us not too far behind. Later that day they got her set up in her room and did an MRI. The MRI showed the 4 brain tumors more clearly and also showed a tumor on her lung and one on her hip and spine. They did a biopsy on the lung mass and then we waited for the results. It came back as cancer. She had a lung partially colapse from the biopsy, which extended her hospital stay for a few days more, but then she was finally able to go home with a plan for radiation and chemotherapy over the next several months.

It still doesn't seem real to me. You never think your mom could get cancer. She just finished up her radiation treatments and has started chemotherapy. All of it has really taken it out of her. She is super tired all the time and has no energy. I can definitely see a change in her personality as she isn't as talkative and laughing all the time, but that's to be expected I guess. We just recently shaved her hair because most of it had fallen out from the radiation. I think that was when it hit me a little that this is real because it was a symptom I could actually see. She is doing well though with it all. As well as anyone can do I suppose. She got the function back in her leg. It seems the swelling in her brain was causing the loss of use and since she was on steroids to bring the swelling down, she is better now. So we are just moving on with the chemotherapy once every 3 weeks and in about 7 weeks they will do another MRI to see what progress has been made.
So that's where we are at right now. Like I said earlier, she isn't able to watch the kids anymore, so I've quit my job to take care of them and be able to spend more time with my mom and help her out. Mark's sister and the kids live with us now, which has been fun. It's a little crowded in our small house right now but we are making it work. Mark started his new job last week and is actually liking it, which is a plus. The 2 girls, Khera, 6 and Julianna, 5 just started school today, so it is just me and the baby, Daniel at home for now, which is a nice break. So life is crazy right now, but we just do what we have to make it through. We have received so much love and support from family and friends and that has been such a big help. We know that Heavenly Father has a plan and that all of this has happened for a reason, so we trust in him and move forward.

Salt Lake City

2009-05-17T22:43:00.000-07:00

Mark and I are going to spend this coming weekend in the Salt Lake City area and are looking for some suggestions of where to go other than the obvious places associated with the Church like Temple Square, Church History Museum, etc...

Let us know if you have any suggestions. We are willing to drive a little ways if needed.

TOO TOO HOT

2009-05-11T22:45:00.000-07:00

So last Thursday, I came home from work to a ridiculously hot house. Mark informed me that the air conditioning was broken. It had been running all day with no cold air coming out and our house was currently 85 degrees inside. It was ridiculous. We made it through the night though, but the next morning was miserable. I got ready and left for work and when I came home it was cooler outside than in the house. It got up to 95 degrees in the house and we knew we couldn't stay there in the heat, so we ended up spending the night at my parent's house. Thankfully we got a guy to come out and fix it on Saturday so we were able to go home for the night and stay in our own house again.

Luckily our fish didn't fry in their tank, but I couldn't say the same for the butter...

Surprise, Surprise

2009-04-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

I love it when Mark surprises me with stuff. I usually get up really early for work and a few days ago I got up, got ready and came downstairs to find this...There were 3 cookie plates in my favorite color, green, cotton candy because I had been craving it the night before, beautiful flowers, a funny singing card and a movie about Mark and me was playing on the laptop. So cute. I have the best husband ever!

X-Box....blahhh!

2009-04-26T11:43:00.001-07:00

So Mark really wants an x-box and I do not. He claims he wouldn't play it that much, but I disagree. When he gets the chance to play he goes into "the zone" and it is nearly impossible to get his attention, short of yelling in his face. He doesn't believe me on this, so here is a picture of the x-box zone face. He didn't even know I took the picture, even though I was sitting about 2 feet away from him.

Random Stuff

2009-04-22T20:14:00.001-07:00

I have been bad about blogging lately, so this post will be pretty random with some of the things we've done lately.

Grandma's 85th Birthday

Baby Daniel...so cute!
Mark's 22nd birthday was on April 17th. I made him a cake at home and at night we went to Cafe Rio with his whole family for dinner and another cake, which was Indiana Jones. Of course we forgot the camera, so the only picture I have is of the cake.

My new favorite animal (or 2nd favorite because Elephant will always be my 1st) is the Owl. They are so cute. I was feeling pretty sad one night, so Mark and me went out to get me these cute bird pillows to make me happy.

We attended Brian Mortenson's wedding reception. We made it just in time for the bouquet and garter tosses. Here's a video (hard to see from the phone) of the boys running in a line before Brian throws Monica's garter. It was fun to see.

One day a few weeks ago we had our nieces, Khera and Julie over to hang out. I made them lunch of breadstick snails, which Khera refused to eat because I said they were snails, and PB&J rolls. I thought the snails were so cute.

I cut Mark and his younger brother Mike's hair for them. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

Not too much happening with us. Just work for me and Mark on the job hunt again.

More Daniel

2009-04-05T21:33:00.000-07:00

So since Mark and I haven't had any babies of our own yet, we will just have to settle for posting about Brandi's oh-so-cute baby boy. Isn't he sweet?! Mark told me that they noticed tonight that he has the one Gabriella ear that is different from the other.

Whenever my mom has Daniel, which has only been a few times so far, I make a little trip over to her house so I can steal him away and hold him the whole time. I figure, she will be watching him everyday soon, so I have to get in my time when I can.

2009-03-24T11:14:00.000-07:00

I love love love this picture of Mark from his mission

I love surprises!

2009-03-20T21:18:00.000-07:00

So one night while I'm home alone, I get a text from Mark saying "ring, ring" and then the doorbell rings. I go to answer it, but Mark is nowhere around and sitting there are flowers with a note that says "I love you". So I take the flowers and close the door and then I get the same text and the doorbell rings again. I proceed to open and close the door and collect the following gifts, all of which are my favorite things (cherry coke, twizzlers, fruit for the juicer, ice cream).

After the last text and ring, I found my Mark on the doorstep. The whole thing was way cute!

More pictures

2009-03-16T20:02:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures from the hospital and from our house where Uncle Mark was watching all the other kids

Inky feet after they stamped them

Professional stool glider (2 am)

Cutie Kegan

Julianna

Uncle Marky and the kids (Khera, Julianna, Kegan)

He's finally here!

2009-03-13T18:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was able to be in the hospital with Mark's sister (Brandi) when she had her baby boy. Daniel Tillman Gabriella was born at 7:08am on Friday the 13th. He weighed 8lbs even and was 21 1/2 inches long. Brandi was at the hospital for almost 24 hours before she gave birth. Below is the picture of her birthing team. We spent all 24 hours with her at the hospital and had a good time.

From left: Brandi, Jo (Mark's mom), Sophia (my mom), me, and Tai (Mark's sister).

Nichelle (Mark's other sister) was also at the hospital for a while.

Our arrival and getting settled into the room

We had such a good time hanging out with Brandi and were so happy that she invited us all in. Everyone had their roles to play (photographer/machine unplugger, garbage lady/mouse mover/professional stool glider, Mary Poppins (well her magic bag anyway), bathroom door opener and many more). Being up til all hours of the morning got some of us a little loopy (won't mention any names) but it helped to pass the time.

I got an hour of sleep the night before we went to the hospital, so around 4am I had to get in a little nap before the baby came and Nichelle joined me. (Pullout couch...not so comfy)

Here he is!
Someone's angry!

He just stared at his mommy for the longest time

Auntie Em getting to hold him

The big sisters (Julianna and Khera) got to come to the hospital to meet their new brother

Here they are seeing him for the first time (Nichelle is really excited for them!)

Their first question when they were told he was born was, "What color is he?"

Of course they both wanted to hold him right away

Happy family! They'll have to get used to having a boy in the house.

Uncle Marky

Home Haircuts

2009-03-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

Mark and I bought a set of hair clippers and this was my first attempt at cutting his hair at home. I thought it turned out just as good as at the salon. I just need to work on cutting around the ears. I was so nervous, so I had Mark do it himself.

So cute

2009-03-09T18:46:00.000-07:00

Uncle Mark and Julie cuddling on the couch...so cute!

Random wedding photos

2009-03-09T16:54:00.000-07:00

I just found these pictures on my mom's computer from my wedding reception

My sister Krissten
My dad

New Ward

2009-03-03T19:21:00.001-08:00

On Sunday Mark and I went to our new ward (Ashley Heights). We love our old ward where Mark's family lives and we will miss them so much, but we figured, we're married and grown ups now, so we can go to our own ward. It was really nice. The people were all friendly and welcoming and we met some people that are newlyweds and that live in our neighborhood. The ward clerk had told us that 40% of our ward was under the age of 2 and he wasn't joking. I've never seen so many babies and toddlers in the same room in all my life and I'm sure they'll be calling us to nursery. I look forward to meeting more people that live close to us and making friends.

I love free stuff!

2009-02-28T22:36:00.001-08:00

I signed up with coupon sense a month ago and love love love it and it has motivated me to look for all the good deals and free stuff that I can. Grocery shopping is actually fun now. This month Mark and I (thanks to Vonda's tips) have gotten tons of free food and some grocery stuff including

2 tacos at Jack-in-the-Box
2 Quiznos sandwiches
QT hot dog and 32oz drink
$10 at Dave & Busters
toilet paper

All we had to do was sign up for free on their websites and then print coupons. Good times!

Family movie night

2009-02-28T22:30:00.000-08:00

Mark and I just went to see this movie with my mom and dad and it was by far one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. It was action packed and suspenseful. I would definitely see it again and buy it when it comes out on DVD. It was kind of scary though to think that things like what happened in the movie actually happen in the world (I won't disclose what happens in case anyone hasn't seen it yet)

Jobs and Fresh veggies

2009-02-27T14:21:00.001-08:00

Yeah! Mark finally found a job! We knew something would come along eventually and we are so happy it did. Mark will be working for the US Census. It's only for 3 months, but it's good pay and is better than nothing. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for him.

In other happy news, I discovered that I love picking fresh vegetables and want to start my own garden at home. My mom took me with her today to her Stake's vegetable garden out in Queen Creek. We were there for an hour and a half picking beets, snap peas, carrots, broccoli, turnips, and green onions. Today was the last day to go I think. The soil was really tough to get through, but luckily one the the brethren from my mom's ward was there and helped us out. It was fun to pick our own vegetables. I'm sure I won't be able to walk tomorrow from all the squatting I was doing, but it was definitely worth it. So now I just need to get some pots for our house and plants some veggies of our own.

Snap Peas

Broccoli

Leftovers and Juicing

2009-02-27T13:59:00.000-08:00

So this week has been leftover week in our house cause we got a little carried away with the cooking last week and have so much food left. I made crock pot chili and banana cake and Mark made burrito stuffing, plus we ate out a few days and ended up with left over pulled pork sandwiches and muffins from Mimi's. On top of all that there is usually always a steady supply of baked cookies in the house.

Mark's sister and her husband got us a juicer for our wedding gift. We always saw the infomercials for them and wanted one, so we were so happy and surprised when they got us one. It makes awesome juice. So far we haven't been too creative or adventurous with it, but we'll be juicing up all kinds of stuff soon enough. Now we just need a blender so we can make smoothies! Mmmmm...

Mark had orange/nectarine with a little bit of kiwi

Just the orange juice alone is super good

2009-02-26T12:30:00.001-08:00

Mark participated in a President's Day football tournament put together by our friend Joe Hurst. They had a really good turn out. I think they ended up with 6 teams of 8. The games were played down at Power Ranch park on three separate fields. I went to take pictures and support my hubby of course. It was a fun day and the weather was perfect. The guys played for the Spooner Cup

(as in Spooners the cereal, which the cup was filled with)

Here are some of the highlights and amazing catches

Joe McLean gets the touchdown with one foot in the endzone

There's my husband with the ball

I thought this was a cool picture of Joe
Brennan fights for the ball
My camera couldn't stay away from Erik Pugmire. He definitely came dressed to impress, but as the day went on, the clothes seemed to come off.

Erik went from this...

To this...

And ended the day like this...

I think everyone had a good time and it was fun to watch. I hope they do it again next year.

Sorry there is something wrong with the slide show, but if you click on the "view all images" button, you can see all the pictures that are supposed to be in it.

If anyone wants any of the pictures from the football tourni, you can email me at embstar_05@hotmail.com and I can email them to you.

The 7's Tournament

2009-02-24T16:24:00.000-08:00

Mark and I went to San Diego for Valentine's Day weekend for the USA 7's Rugby Tournament. (Of course we forgot our camera) I've gone every year for the last 3 years with all of my family and it is so much fun. I'm sure we'll be going every year as long as it stays in San Diego. 16 nations from around the world compete for the World Cup. We usually root for Fiji since that is where my family is from and definitely the USA. It is amazing to stand in a packed stadium and hear the entire crowd shouting "U-S-A!"

(Competing nations from left to right: Uruguay, Mexico, USA, New Zealand, England, South Africa, Samoa, Scotland, Canada, France, Japan, Argentina, Fiji, Australia, Wales, Kenya)

Higley Varsity Basketball

2009-02-23T15:15:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we attended the Higley Senior Night. Mark's younger brother is a senior this year and is on the varsity basketball team. All the senior players and their parents were honored.

We had to get a picture of the Gabriella brothers on their court. It's kind of sad that there won't be any Gabriellas playing at Higley for a while since there has been a Gabriella boy playing there for the last 8 years.

Seeing the Higley basketball court always makes me smile because that is where Mark proposed to me.

Brothers

Vegas Baby!

2009-02-19T10:56:00.001-08:00

Finally I got our Vegas pictures up. Mark and I went to Las Vegas Superbowl weekend.

And we're off...
This was Mark moving his body "like a cyclone". It was hilarious!

We stayed at Circus Circus. It was nice, but I would stay further down the strip next time so we wouldn't have to walk as far to our hotel at the end of the day. Our first night we got there late, so we checked in and then walked down the strip to Caesar's Palace to the Forum Shops and looked around for a while. We were exhausted from the drive so we went to bed. The next day we got up and went to Mandalay Bay for the breakfast buffet. It was yummy and one of the least expensive. After we ate, we went to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay.
At the beginning of the Reef they had a bunch of endangered animals like a Golden Crocodile and this Gila Monster. He sat so still that I thought for sure he was fake.

We got to pet the sting rays.

These crabs were gettin' some lovin'.

This sting ray must have liked me cause he came and sat by me and let me pet him for a while.

Jellyfish are so interesting to me

This place scared me. It was made to look like you were in a sunken ship and there was glass all around and above and on the floor. You could walk right up to the side windows and even lay against them if you wanted. It was scary. I'm sure the glass is super thick, but I couldn't help feeling like I might fall into the water. Silly, I know.

We went from Mandalay Bay to Luxor and went through the Bodies Exhibit. It was my second time and Mark's first, so it was fun to see his reactions to the bodies.

We hung around this end of the strip for most of the day. We rode the New York New York rollercoaster a few times, went to see the lions at MGM Grand, and walked through the M&M and Coke factories.

At the Coke Factory, we did this taste test of 16 international coke products. Some were really good and some, not so much...

Like this one...

and this one.

Saturday night we had dinner at Excalibur and then went to TI (Treasure Island) to watch the Sirens of TI show. It was entertaining and even better, it was FREE. We did a little more shopping or rather window shopping in The Venetian and then went back to the hotel to watch a movie. Vegas was definitely a good time. We want to take friends next time we go, so if you're interested, let us know.

Hoover Dam on the way to Vegas

2009-02-02T21:01:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Mark and I made a snap decision to go to Las Vegas for the weekend. We literally woke up on Friday morning, decided on Vegas, and left around 3 that afternoon. The drive was so long, but we had a good time. It was amazing to see Hoover Dam and all the reconstruction they are doing on it. They are building an overpass so you don't have to cross the Dam if you don't want to, but it looks so scary because it is so high up in the air.

Here's Hoover Dam from the Arizona side

It's so high up. I don't know if I'd make it across.

Of course Mark had to make "Dam" jokes the whole way across and the same on the way back. He thought he was hilarious.

More photos

2009-02-01T21:24:00.000-08:00

I absolutely loved Sloan Photographers. (Thanks Dani for letting me check out all your photos) They took such fun shots. I liked that we didn't have a lot of posed and stiff pictures. I would definitely use them again for family photos.

I love the way Mark looks in this one, but we didn't use it because he is sort of sitting in a funny way and is sitting on a log (get it...)

This is one of my favorites...everyone threw leaves at us

Our Titanic shot

Wedding pictures

2009-01-22T22:02:00.001-08:00

We had the majority of our wedding photos taken a week before our actual wedding. I would definitely recommend doing this because it saved us like 3 hours on the day of and we had lots of time to just relax and have fun with it. First, we dressed up in the traditional Fijian wedding attire, since that is where my family is from.

The time has come...

2009-01-21T21:22:00.000-08:00

So I finally started a blog. I figured that since I'm married now, I can join the blogging world. Quick review on life lately. My husband, Mark, got home in December from his mission in Resistencia, Argentina. We were high school sweethearts and I waited for him while he was on his mission. We just recently got married on January 17th and things are great. I'm currently attending CGCC in the Nursing Program and it's pretty rough this semester. Mark is looking for a job (not an easy task) and will prolly start school in the Fall. My first few posts will prolly just be full of wedding pictures cause I'm still on a sort of wedding high and because we had so much fun at our reception and taking pics. So enjoy and hopefully my posts will get more interesting as time goes on.