This time it's real...

Well, unlike last time, this time it's for real. As you can see in the picture above we will be having a baby! Rebecca is 11 weeks along and her due date is on July 2, 2010. Sorry for the poor quality of the picture, but our scanner doesn't work and so I had to take a picture of the picture. We are really excited and can't wait for the new addition to our family. Hopefully, Genna will be just as excited to share her parents, but there's plenty of time to teach her that before next summer, right?

SYTYCD (and a little falsehood)

Isn't it great how you can go back in time with Blogger? I went to this concert on November 5, but never got around to posting these pictures. Even though today is January 9, 2010, I am going to pretend that it is November 6, 2009.

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If you don't know what SYTYCD means, move along.

Reid and I are big fans of So You Think You Can Dance, and have enjoyed watching real dancers perform real choreography, not like some other "dancing" shows (ahem, Dancing with the "Stars"). (Although, it is true that quite a few of the Professionals on that show were previous contestants on SYTYCD. Good for them!) (Who knows where the "Stars" come from...moving on).

So, when my dear friend Jane emailed me with the great news that she had access to FREE tickets, I was so excited! To top it off, Reid scored us tickets to the aftershow so we could meet the dancers. Awesome!

Jane had another ticket, so I was able to invite my friend, Katey, who as another young mother, hasn't been to a concert in awhile. The three of us had a great time. Unfortunately, we forgot to take a picture of us having a great time. Just believe me. I also tried to take a picture during the concert, but that didn't work so well.

The concert lasted longer than we expected, and however pathetic it is to admit, we were so tired, we considered not staying for the aftershow. I know, we sound old and lame. But we stayed, and here is proof!

This is Randi Evans, a fellow Oremite (did I just make that up?). In fact, the whole cast was leaving for UT within a few hours after this concert, and I was a little sad that I couldn't just hitch a ride and visit my family.

Kupono, with one of his custom "designs," complete with safety pin. It was amazing to see the addiction dance live (love the song: "Gravity" by Sara Bareilles).

Janette, one of my favorite dancers throughout. She should have been a finalist!

Melissa, the ballerina, was very sweet...and tall. (Don't you love my aftershow sticker? They made us wear them...)

And Brandon, whom I would have chosen as the winner! Oh well, that's what I get for not voting.

Well, I feel so much better now that this event has been publicly documented. Now on to Genna... :)

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!! In celebration of this "sweet" holiday (pun intended), we have posted a few pictures of our adorable little girl. Please enjoy this montage of pictures to see what we did for Halloween.

This is her costume (thank you Grandma Cluff!). She's a butterfly-fairy princess. Notice the pretty glitter on her cheeks (thank you Mommy!). She loved being able to play with Mommy's make up without going into time-out.

Here's Genna counting up her loot. It's her first time trick-or-treating!

Here she is after enjoying a few too many pieces of chocolate. Notice her halo headband and wings are now off, she's exited the princess persona...

Oh how she loves her pumpkin....

Sorry, Genna, Daddy gutted your pumpkin. But at least it still looks awesome. He sure is a good "carver".

Genna loved my (Reid's ) carving so much she decided to imitate it using her famous "freeze frame" face.

Finally, she decided to take a nice picture next to her new found friend. Does this picture look familiar...I'm calling it "Halloween Gothic".

Happy Halloween Everyone! Until next year.....

Winter is Here!

Winter has arrived with our first ice storm. The storm was on the weekend and I (Reid) had to work the CC Hockey games. On Saturday night, which was the heart of the storm, it took me ten minutes to chip the ice off of my car so that I could drive it. I thought to myself "should I just go home, which is right over the hill, or should I use this awesome 2 for 1 Josh & John's coupon and drive downtown?" Well as you may know, the only time before this that I've posted anything on this blog it was about how much I love J & J's ice cream.

So, needless to say, I decided to take my life into my hands and take advantage of this awesome coupon and drive 10 mph downtown from the World Arena. All the while I was driving, I was just thinking what would happen if I got in an accident all because I wanted to eat a delicious treat? Well, 30 minutes later, I arrived to find that I was their very last customer of the night (although I was surprised to find that I was not the only customer of the night, there wasn't even that much parking to be found downtown let alone the 20+ people who were in Josh and John's eating ice cream) because they were closing early. 30 minutes after that, Rebecca and I were safely eating this delicious ice cream on our couch. What a way to celebrate the arrival of Winter: Hockey, Ice Storms, and Ice Cream!

Last Summer Post

Colorado Springs has a great park here called America the Beautiful Park, which has an amazing water feature. Every Wednesday during the summer, they have a farmer's market and free outdoor concert, so Reid and I decided to check it out. The concert was not impressive, but Genna loved splashing in the water!

Remembering Summer...

This summer, Genna discovered that she loves water! We went to this splashground for a play group, and had a lot of fun...eventually. Our ward pool party had been just a week before, and Genna really enjoyed splashing in the water, so I expected her to love this. However, she sat on my lap or tried to run out of the park for almost an hour! Just when I was about to give up and go home, she suddenly decided that it looked like fun.

Self Portrait by Genna

Breakfast in the Summer

The other morning, we gave Genna some milk and a leftover pancake for breakfast. She decided to take her breakfast outside.

Yum.

Nothing is better than FREE!

Reid and I scored such a deal tonight, it was unbelievable! We recently received a few coupons for free fries and drink with the purchase of McDonald's new Angus Burger, so we thought we'd give it a try, even though we weren't sure how much the burgers cost. Our total was $8.57 or something, which I guess is not that bad for a meal for two. We pulled up to the first window and Reid handed the guy our coupons and then tried to hand him our debit card. He was taking another order at first, so Reid just kept holding out his card. Finally, the guy said that it was going to take too long or something weird, and handed Reid a receipt. What?! We looked at it, and it said, "Employee Discount" for the amount that we were supposed to pay, with an end total of $0. Reid and I just looked at each other and started laughing - did that just happen?

In addition to that, we had a few coupons for a free Jr. Frosty from Wendy's (thanks Gretchen!). I kind of felt bad handing them my coupons and not buying anything...but not that bad!

While I'm talking about restaurants, I may as well share another recent find. My favorite money-saving website, Springs Bargains, recently posted a whole lot of places that will offer you something free for your birthday. Many of them also give you something free just for signing up for the email list. I have a separate email account for things like that, so I don't get "special offers" mixed in with personal email. Here is a link to the birthday deals, many of which are for chain restaurants, so even if you don't live here, check it out!

P.S. The link on McDonald's Angus Burger at the top will take you to a site where you can print out your own coupon, if you didn't get one in your Sunday paper. But I can't guarantee that your cashier will be too busy to charge you for it!

The Giant Jokester

Reid and I were just sitting around, knowing it was bedtime but too lazy to move, and I noticed how much Genna has grown in the past year. She was standing next to a musical play table, with lots of fun buttons, which she got when she was about 7-8 months old. I remember that when standing, she could barely touch the buttons on the edge of the table, and here she is towering over it like a giant.

Reid said, "She looks like King Kong!" Right at that moment, Genna turned to the side and took a few really large steps, as if imitating a giant. We bust up laughing, of course. She turned around and looked at us, and then starts laughing really loud as well, like she totally got the joke. We could not stop laughing!

Neither could she...long after we had calmed down. She kept doing things and waiting for us to laugh again. She is such a funny girl, and loves attention! I thinking Genna will love having younger siblings to entertain/boss around/laugh at her. But not yet.

We Joined The Circus

Well, not exactly, but we did enjoy ourselves at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus that came to town here in Colorado Springs. On Saturday night, Rebecca and Genna got to go to the circus while I was working in the Box Office. Here they are during the first half:

Right now, Genna's thinking, "How can I sneak away from mom to go pet that tiger over there?" Well, she never got the chance, but we did get to see the tigers after intermission when I joined them. It was pretty awesome! As you can see, I might have liked them even more than Genna did.

The tigers were the greatest part of the show.

Genna is so tired, she looks dazed.

This is Genna the next day with her elephant. I took Rebecca and Genna to meet the promoter of the show, and she gave us this sweet elephant.

Love Affair with a Banana

I've had this post in my drafts for a few months now, and decided to post it.  As mentioned previously, Genna loves bananas.  Here is a photo essay for you to enjoy.

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It began with mushing, then progressed to slicing. Eventually, she wanted sections or even to bite by herself.

The end.