MITA'S BIRTHDAY

Mita was born on a Friday the 13th in 1914. She entered this world shortly before midnight and the doctor told her father that he would switch her birthdate to February 14th if he wanted. He said that there was no need to do that, he wasn't superstitious. So what kind of celebration does one have after 96 years on the planet? TACO BELL! Mita had her favorite: a crunchy taco with sour cream (taco supreme) and a rootbeer. She even drove through to get her food with us (Josette, Michele, Jacquelen and myself), but not before a "drive by" visit to the cemetary....you know, to let papa wish her a happy birthday.....I guess. Jacquelen and I thought it was a little sad driving her to the cemetary on her birthday. She was dozing hunched over in the front seat. I couldn't help but wonder what she would think if she looked up and saw the cemetary all around her. Were we sending her a message......."Mita.....did you want to be dropped off here.......or go back to Patti's?" Jacquelen and I had a great time discussing this and many other cooky things during our "Afternoon with Seniors". Finally we made it to the Taco Bell Drive Thru......well, it's a Taco Bell/Pizza Hut drive thru. Again.....hilarity ensued as we tried to order food with Seniors!!! (I think explaining it should be a blogpost all on it's own....maybe I'll collaborate with Jacquelen!) Here's the birthday girl, enjoying her taco.

Isn't this festive! The banner, balloons, present, cake and even punch (it's Yoda Soda)!

Here's Mita and her sister-in-law Edna. They lived together when Mita first came to the States.....70 years ago!!!!! And they share a home once again!

Photographing babies and animals can be tricky. Trying to get them posed and looking at the camera is not an easy feat, but it's NOTHING compared to photographing the nonagenarian. (confused?! look it up!) Then throw in a few seniors and........well, we had a difficult time getting a decent picture. This was BY FAR the best!

(Mita and her daughters)

Now time for the presents! She received a lot of chocolate and an outfit. Jacquelen even made a beautiful ribbon to clip cards on for display. She hung it in her room and it looks great!

Again......are we just cruel?! Here Mita, blow out some candles! I didn't know if she could do it, but after some attempts all three candles were out.

Happy Birthday, Mita!!!

I hope your wish comes true!

and....

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

BABIES ARE GROWING UP!!!!

Big milestones happened on February 11th! First, my baby brother Austin received his mission call!!!!!! 2 weeks ago our family made our guesses on where he would be going. Kyler only used one guess.....

It was Arizona - All The Way!!!

Kyler wasn't correct..........

(the boys listening to Austin on the speaker phone.....where will he go?)

but Colton was!!!!!

Austin will be going to the Roseville, CA mission - Spanish Speaking!!!

Way to go, Elder Mulleneaux.....excuse me, Hermano Mulleneaux!
Are you ready for the second milestone.......

I'M NOT!!!!!!


REALLY.......................I'M NOT!!!!!!!


But it happened!!!

It's official - Colton no longer has a mustache!

My oldest son starting shaving!!!!!!!!!

You know what I like best about Colton.....

HIS CLEAN, CLOSE SHAVE!


No more milestones.......

just insanity!

I don't know why.....but I keep taking pictures of my dog!

I don't want to become one of THOSE people!

But no one else in this house is this cute right now.

It's not my fault..........right?!?

I was heading to bed last night and this is what I found...

Yes.....he is my baby right now. And ironically....

the only male in the house with a mustache!

WORLD NUTELLA DAY

Can you believe what day it is?!?

YES, IT'S WORLD NUTELLA DAY!!!!!

Didn't know there was a WORLD NUTELLA DAY...

neither did I until I ran into their site when I was blog hopping the other day. You can run into them too - http://www.nutelladay.com/

I was introduced to Nutella by my Mita. She would occasionally let us have a little.....very little! It was delicious! I think I grew up imagining that it was so expensive since Mita didn't share it very often. (I also grew up thinking a strand of outdoor Christmas lights was like $100 since my parents said we couldn't afford them my WHOLE childhood. Later* I found out they just didn't want to put them up. [*Later was some time after I was married. Tony and I were married a few years and more $ecure when I finally decided to $pend the $$$$ on Christmas lights. You can imagine the shock when I finally looked at the price of lights only to discover a strand costs only a few $$$.] I won't even get into the whole "We can't afford a canopy bed for you" ordeal!!!!!! Let me tell you....I'M NOT OVER THAT ONE!!!!!!)

Where was I?

That's right Nutella!

So....how do you enjoy Nutella? I like it on crepes with bananas. I like to dip my pretzels in it. And I love it right out of the jar! I don't share my nutella very often.....guess I get that from my Mita. (I should get Mita a jar for her 96th birthday.....which is next week!) So go out and buy a jar of Nutella.....or two......or three.
HAPPY WORLD NUTELLA DAY 2010
again, how do you enjoy nutella?

PAYBACK

What does Colton get for all the pranks he's been pulling on Emily lately........PAYBACK! He came home last Friday to a room that looked like this! The only thing that made him upset was that he had to clean his room before he could do anything. As he walked in he was stunned for a minute, then turned around and said....."Who did this!............EMILY!" What a smart boy!

Et tu, Elliot, et tu!
This was harder for him to try to take down than he thought...

so out came the scissors!!!

Sadly, I don't think this will deter Colton at all from future pranks. Can we say...

GAME ON!

BLESSINGS

Sunday my cousin and his wife were blessed to welcome their first baby, Drew. Unfortunately, Drew made his appearance too early. He's doing ok and many pictures have been shared of this little boy. As I look at this 3 pound 15 ounce baby, it reminds me of some premies from 20 years ago! My sisters and youngest brother were delivered early and they weighed in at 4 pounds 1/2 ounce, 4 pounds 7 ounces, and 5 pounds 4 ounces. They were so fragile and tiny and we prayed and prayed and prayed for all of them to grow and develop and be strong. Prayers were answered. They did grow. They did develop. They are strong. They are all attending college - Audra and Catherine at BYU-ID (if you know it by Rick's....then we know how old you are!) and Austin's at BYU-Provo. Here they are at Catherine's wedding in August (yep, she was born 20 years after me and married 20 years after my August wedding!) So sweet!

This was one of my favorite parts of the reception - The Triplet Dance!
So hang in there Andrew and Michelle! Baby Drew has LOTS & LOTS & LOTS of family praying and praying and praying for him. (and for you too!) We love you!!!

INTERESTING

Why do kids make everything more interesting in life? Just a quick trip to the grocery store turns into a circus when you take Kyler and Asher. Isn't a circus more interesting than a plain old grocery store?!? And what about taking kids to try on clothes. Isn't that a blast? I recently took Asher and Kyler to find some Sunday clothes. INTERESTING! (isn't that a nice way to say TORTURE..........interesting.) Kyler took forever to take off his shorts....then forever to put his pants on.......then to actually come out of the dressing room to show me. I could see his feet under the dressing room door and HE WAS SLOW! I think the biggest hurdle for Kyler was the fact that they have a mirror in the dressing room. Mirrors are built-in audiences to this boy! He performs and has the time of his life in front of mirrors. I know....interesting!

Even the word interesting became more interesting when I had children. Have you seen Little Bear? If not, you're missing out. Colton used to watch Little Bear. He was a quiet, nice little bear. He had nice, quiet parents and nice, quiet grandparents. They loved him and he loved them. He was a curious bear and would always say "Innnnteresting" Colton even had a Little Bear doll that said "Innnnteresting"....

AND IT'S BEEN BURNED IN MY BRAIN EVER SINCE!

INTERESTING.

THE VIEW FROM MY SECOND HOME

What?!? You didn't know that Tony has provided me with a second home!!! Of course he has! I'm such a spoiled woman! I'm even get to spend a lot of time there....many times by myself! Even so, I never feel refreshed when I'm there. In fact, I'm much more relaxed when I leave my second home!!!

Here's the first view from the front window in my second home. Oh, I didn't tell you, my second home can move from location to location. It sees lots of different locations in a day, but ironically, not different from day to day!?!

I have a special feature in this home....a mirror that allows me to simultaneously look through my front and rear windows! If you look in that mirror, you'll see how many fellow moms have second homes too!

For such a busy home, it spends plenty of time going nowhere! (Man, I can't believe how dirty it is. Must be the maids day off!)

I don't mind sharing the home with my family. Everyone has their own space and it never interferes with my space. Except for the music room. Colton and I have compromised, he gets FM1 to program his stations.....

and I get FM2 for my stations. It has really cut down on the frustration for me. As soon as Colton leaves our second home, I turn the music back to FM2 and all is well. (I'm getting used to some of his music, just not the dj's. One station even has Paternity Test Tuesday......I wish I was making that up)