Merry Mix It

Just go to this website and stop asking questions! :)

http://gap.com/merrymixit.com

P.S. - My favorites are Jon Header and Rainn Wilson...

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Gotta love coupons!

I've been trying to be more trifty lately - that includes coupons and looking through ads that I usually just throw out. Today made it all worth it! We bought a pizza last week from Papa John's - it was yummy, but on the box was a coupon for $3 The Dark Knight DVD. I cut out the coupon of course and a few days later found an ad for CVS Pharmacy. If you buy a $15 iTunes gift card they will sell you The Dark Knight for $9.99 (with CVS card) So I was able to get this fantastic DVD for $6.99 and it has made my whole day :) I am so happy that I did this!!!!

Thanksgiving... Finally!

Thanksgiving was a great day! The States family and Hoy family enjoyed dinner together. It was yummy and fun! Enjoy the pictures :)

Our friend Matt Olsen joined us this year for the feast! He was a big help :) Ben and Matt made a pie. Ben and Matt deep fried a Turkey! It was sooooo yummy!!! Here they are preparing the fryer. Here is Matt getting ready to put the Turkey in the pot. Like the flannel shirt/apron?Matt became drunk with the power... Wow - crazy!Beautiful sunset right before dinner :)Here is Matt taking the Turkey out. It cooked REALLY quick! And so yummy to the tummy!Getting Ryan dressed in his Thanksgiving best!I don't even know what to say...Ryan was fussy as soon as it was time to eat!Jon Hoy... 'nough said.YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM! YUM!Ryan was really stuffed!Picking names for Christmas presents!Ryan and Olivia are so dang cute!!! They had a good time playing with each other :)

Airbands BABY!

So for mutual in March 2009, Ben is planning a huge airband competition between some of the youth in a few wards. Should be awesome... I'm thinking I'll break out my Beyonce "Single Ladies" - Yeah you know I can R-O-C-K it! :) Riiiiiiight. Anyway - here is some of Ben's inspiration and quite frankly - I love Turk...

Canceled Cable

Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Ben and I canceled our cable. We are trying to cut back costs and we also wanted to spend more time with our son instead of ignoring him while we sit and watch TV all night long. I've got to say that I really didn't want to cancel it but I'm really happy that we did! There are only 2 shows that I REALLY miss - besides Chargers football of course :) But I watched The Office online for FREE and bought Grey's Anatomy off iTunes (it was a weak moment) But all in all, I'm happy with no cable in our home :) But I won't lie to you either and say that I'm never going to have cable again... Because one of these days I will break down and want to watch TV all day again, but for now I'm enjoying it!

Twilight... the 2nd time

So after I saw Twilight I was surprise with how much I didn't remember from the book so I started reading it again that night. I wanted to go slow and enjoy the book, but I ended up reading still sorta quick :) Can't put that darn thing down! Anyway - So I saw the movie again today and I liked it sooo much more this time around - the cheesy parts seemed a bit less cheesy... only a bit though. There was so much missing from the movie, but I can still enjoy it for what it is! The only real problem I now have with the movie is some of "Edwards" intense moments of acting... Hopefully he gets some acting lessons before the next movie!

Since I'm finished with Twilight, I'm moving onto New Moon. I hated New Moon the first time around and vowed not to put the book down until Edward returned - that was a very LONG day! So this time around I'm thinking about either skipping the whole Jacob part all together or reading every other chapter. Whatcha think about that? Sorry if I offend any Jacob fans out there, but he is just not my cup of tea (although the actor who plays Jacob is a cutie... and kinda looks like my cousin Lesley's hubby)

Taylor Lautner/ Jacob Black

Cory

Christmas Presents

So I wanted to feel Christmasy since I haven't put up my decorations yet... I decided to wrap Ben and my Christmas gift - Yes we're getting a Wii!!!!!!!!!!!! After I wrapped the present I got up to put away the scissors and tape so that Ryan wouldn't get them... I then heard an strange sound and turned around to see this...

This should be an interesting Christmas... :)

He did it AGAIN!

My kid must be a really restless sleeper... Just like both his parents. Ben has to move his feet all night long and I am constantly rolling over and over to get comfortable! Ryan must have a little of both! Haha

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I hope that you all have a great and happy Thanksgiving today! Eat lots of food and get ready for the mad dash shopping tomorrow!

Here is Ryan from last year - it's so funny how small he was!

Washing Dishes with Daddy

Ryan's new favorite thing to do (and I got to say that it's one of my favorite things to watch) is help Daddy with the dishes! He loves to do it and begs Daddy to wash them as soon as Daddy gets home from work!

Ryan Loves to Brush His Teeth!

The other day, Ryan managed to move the cat sand container so that he could reach Ben's toothbrush on the counter... This is how the following happened :)

I guess I should be thankful that Ryan likes to brush his teeth :)

The Toy Ryan Wishes He Had :)

Last week, we took a family trip to one of our favorite places... COSTCO! Where else can you get a cheap meal and entertainment afterwards for FREE? Really if you have any suggestions let me know! Anyway - while browsing the store/warehouse, Ryan found the perfect toy... A POWER WHEELS! He couldn't reach the pedals, but he loved "steering".

Christmas TAG :)

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? wrapping paper

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial - I like to put up my tree the day after Thanksgiving... sometimes after Thanksgiving dinner :) and leave it up until New Years day! Plus I don't want my cats peeing on a real one :)

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the day after Thanksgiving

4. When do you take the tree down? after new years

5. Do you like eggnog? Surprisingly yes... But only the homemade stuff - Love Ben's grandmother's recipe!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? tough question! I always had AWESOME christmases as a child! But the one year I can think of right now is when I got this "real" baby doll - I named her Mary :)

7. Hardest person to buy for? My Brother-in-law Shane

8. Easiest person to buy for? Ben and Ryan

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yup! I got an awseome Willow Tree (complete set!!!) one for my birthday this year!!!!

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail

11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? The first year I was dating Ben I recieved NOTHING! That was the worst gift ever! :)

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? CHRISTMAS STORY!!!! I also like Elf

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? This year we will be attempting to shop on BLACK FRIDAY - wish me luck!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? hehehe

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Mint M&M's

16. Lights on the tree? Colored :)

17. Favorite Christmas song? He Sent His Son, ... SO MANY ACTUALLY!

18.Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home, but I would LOVE to travel!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donnor, Blitzen, Rudolph - I really could even though Christene already listed them! I can sing the Rudolph song :)

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One on Christmas Eve (usually pajamas), but I've ususally been able to convince my parents to let me open another one :)- the remaining in the morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? NOT ENOUGH MONEY!!! Debt :)

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Snowmen and Snowflakes!

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Ham

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A House or a Wii, but I will settle for finding something cool for my son to climb on :)

Merry Christmas!!!

I Tag: Ashley(s) - ALL OF YOU!, Christy, Nora, Katie and Melody!

Twilight Movie

Last night my sis-in-law Melinda and I saw the new Twilight movie. I went to it with very low expectations and was pleasingly surprised! I really liked it... I even liked the guy who played Edward! There were some really super dumb/cheesy/bad effects parts that I didn't care for, but over all it was good. DO NOT GO SEE IT IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK! That is my only disclaimer - you will appreciate the movie for what it is if you have read the books... if you haven't the movie will seem really dumb! I really wanted to see this on opening night, but I don't know if I will again... There were a ton of annoying teenage girls and at one point I turned into one of them!!! AHHH!!! But I really did enjoy the movie and will buy it when it comes out on DVD :)

Tagged By Tiffany!

I got tagged by Tiffany to write 7 random facts about myself... This actually is kind of hard for me!

1. I've been hit in the head by a baseball at least 2 times (that I can remember... haha), but only one time sent me to the hospital. And that was a line drive hit by Kenny Lofton at an Oakland A's game...2. I want to go to NYC so badly and I think it's because of all the glamorous movies that take place in NYC or TV shows (that's right Gossip Girl and Friends) or even books I've read. I'm obsessed with it!

3. I'm a HORRIBLE speller. I always have to use the spell checker on everything and sadly enough when I spelled "glamorous" in #2 I had to sing the Fergie song where she spells everything!

4. I am taking a Jazz dance class because at the time when I signed up, my plan was to take dance classes for 4 years and then try out for SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE! I'm half way through my dance class and have had a SERIOUS reality check/I suck at dancing!

5. When I was a little girl had had CRAZY big bangs... Thanks Mom...6. I want a Doberman Pincher because I had one name Tyler growing up. He was an awesome dog who I used to dress up in doll clothes :)

7. I've had 2 really memorable New Year's Eve's - The rest have sucked :) jk... The first great one was New Year's 2000! YEA BABY! (I really just wanted to put in this picture because Brooke, Rachel and Hyrum are in it and I think it's funny) and the other great New Year's Eve was last year at Disneyland!

Now, I am going to tag:
Ashley Braun

Melody

Katie

Rachel

Lara

Side Note: Spell check only found 1 legit misspelled word!!! Way to go me!

I LOVE JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE!

Sorry but the guy is good looking and talented and FUNNY!

BEES!!!

There was this beehive under the Sprinter bridge right by our exit off the 78 - Ben noticed the hive about 3-4 months ago. North County Transit is one of our accounts so we knew we would be taking care of the hive... well NCT finally called us last week and Tim and Ben killed the hive... Since it was so closed to home - I went to observe... from my car :)

Before - It was a huge hive - You're looking at about 60lbs of honeycomb and probably about 7-10,000 bees

Ben the Bee GuyTim did the extermination - since it was on such a huge bridge we had to rent a boom lift.

Honeycomb... After

Last Weekend

I've been meaning to post these pictures, but haven't gotten a chance to do so yet. Last weekend we went to Chuck E Cheese with Ben and Collette and of course the kids. It was a ton of fun - ENJOY THE PICTURES :)
This video is too funny... Collette and I hadn't seen the Bens or our kids in a while so we went to find them... We found our hubbys "dancing" and the kids nowhere to be found :) Unfortunately I didn't get my camera out fast enough to catch them both dancing.