Last Week

Monday:

The volleyball banquet - we all got dressed up and had a yummy dinner to share one more time this fabulous volleyball year.

Tuesday:

Hung out most of the day then Jorel and I went and watched Wall*E at Tyler's house... loved it!

Wednesday:
Jorel had his second flu shot, poor guy, and I did some homework all night

Thursday:

Happy Thanksgiving! We went to my sister Deni's house for dinner - Jorel had lots of fun with his cousins and we enjoyed so yum.

Friday:

Jorel was extra cute - My sister Jaana, her hubby Paul, and Jake came in - we visited all night and even had some time for an awesomely bad movie - Tremors. Of course my sister has pictures, and not me :)

Saturday:

Deep Fried Turkey and Mashed Potatoes!!! - plus lots of other good eats and family time

Sunday:

Mom decorated all day (my decorating was the second pic, and I think that's about it) so I tried to keep Jorel out of the boxes, not really, mom did this too... but we did spend some time outside and I finished my homework, plus crocheted Markus and myself a cell phone cover. Good times were had by all :)

Sista Love

The holidays are coming up and I don't know if that's the reason or what, but I'm way missing my siblings lately! Nothing against my bros, but I especially miss my sister, Jaana. She is my very bestest friend and I love doing anything with her... here's just a little shout out to my sissy:

• She absolutely knows how to have the best time (even if she always isn't), and makes sure that everyone else is having as much fun as she is
• She's a great shopping buddy - even when neither of us have anything to spend
• She takes amazing photos - when she's not around, we probably won't have any
• She's generous and has definately helped me out in many situations
• She speaks her mind - even if you don't always want to hear it at the time, but she definitely has helped me through a lot of situations that "I didn't want to hear it," but sis, I did, and thanks
• She can smile with her eyes, just ask Tyra
• She's a great Aunt, and Jorel knows it
• She gets so excited about the things she likes that I instantly like them too
• She's a very strong individual
• Growing up, I wanted to be like her, even if she didn't want me to... haha, that was fun, right sis?
• She's ALWAYS been there for me - whether it be someone to just vent to or someone to boob too, she's been there
• She's gorgeous
• She has the best laugh, and those of you who know her, know what I'm talking about!
• She can be totally cheesy and still look amazing
• She's smart and has a great mind
• We have some awesome childhood memories - like staying up late and playing chutes and ladders under our blankets with a flashlight - AWESOME, or dancing like in Back to the Future on top of the bed - DOUBLE AWESOME!

There are way more to list, but I think you get the picture :)

She's a great sister and a great friend and I couldn't be more thankful to have her in my life! Can't wait to see you in few days!!!!

13 Months

It just doesn't seem as exciting as all the other months...

but he's just as cute :)

Phoenix Trip

This last weekend my mom and I + Jorel headed to Phoenix, last minute, to visit some family. We left Thursday and came back on Sunday. My mom's sister Irene and her kids -1 live in the Phoenix area. It was a nice trip - long drive though, and my mom and I both got sick, and Jorel isn't feeling too hot either. But anyway, Jorel got to re-meet his 2nd cousin Dylan who is about 20 months and they seemed to have a blast together. They gave each other hugs and played so nicely together. I got to bond a little more with my cousin-in-law, Tina. She's such a sweetheart! She invited me to tag along to her mom's group on Friday, which was nice. I hadn't really gotten to witness Jorel interact with kids his age, and besides the hair pulling - which he does to me too - he does pretty good. Dylan is SO sweet natured and shared his toys so nicely with Jorel, and everyone else for that matter. Jorel loved the slides, and really seemed to like all that was going on. Saturday Tina a Thomas cooked us some yummy dinner and we stayed over late visiting. My other cousin Daniel was there too after his Buddhist retreat. It was great to catch up with all of them. We stayed with my Aunt Irene and her unpredictable big dog Koi, who Jorel loved, but made us all nervous! On Sunday before we left we got to do a - as my mom called it "Parade of Homes" of my cousin's. We first stopped at Daniel's bachelor pad and then we were off to Anna and Steve's new beautiful home. We then took the long trek back... got sick, had to finish my homework, and here we are :) It was nice to get away, as usual... Here's some pics from the trip:

And here's a few random ones from the last couple of days:

And here is Jorel still sleeping at 11:15 this morning... this is why I think he isn't feeling so good:

'nough said...

...for now anyway

And the first word is....

BANANA! He said it loud and proud yesterday while I was feeding him one. I'm pretty sure that he LOVES bananas so he decided to make this his first word... besides mom of course. He's pretty close to saying Aunt Jaana too, because I think it sounds a lot like banana, and he loves her too. What a cutie...

Thanks Grandma Judy!!!

So for Jorel's birthday, his grandparents from Indiana wanted to send him some books. Well, the next thing I know, there's a big car waiting on our doorstep. He absolutely LOVES it! So these pics are mostly for Grandma Judy and Grandpa Tom - I'm pretty sure it is his new favorite toy. Then the next day we got another ring at the doorbell and there was another truck! "Thanks for the awesome 'books', Grandma Judy, I love them, and the box too!" ♥ Jorel

Here are some other gifts that he really liked too:

These are only a few, so don't worry if yours isn't posted - he loved them all! And I couldn't leave out the pre-state luau pic, he loved dancing to the Hula Dancers!

State Champions!

So if you hadn't heard yet, last weekend, the Hurricane Volleyball team took outright the 3A Utah State Championship for the first time ever - and I got to be a part of it!! How exciting right? I've been an assistant coach for the last 2 years and knew that this was a great possibility. The girls played SO awesome, winning every game of every match - no one else even had a chance. I am so proud of this team because they suffered through a few adversities with injuries and attitude problems and so forth, but came together ten fold when it mattered. They are a great bunch of girls and I am so happy that they got to experience this. I actually got to experience it when I was going to school for basketball and we beat Judge Memorial for the championship game 49-12. It was my sophomore year, and I even got to play in the final game. So now I get to have 2 state rings - we picked these ones out yesterday - and that's exciting enough, hopefully these are 2 of a few more to come. I stole this pic from the other assistant coach (and friend - thanks Bracken :)

Rayla, Me, and Megan

On another note, I just have to say how excited i was to get my hair to curl on my own! I have the worst luck with hair when I try to do it myself, so with some great tid-bits from my co-assistnat coach, Bedazzle Rayla, I was able to do it! It's still a work in progress, but it is progress!

And I got some more cute pics of Jorel today, he LOVES it outside! He's just growing up WAY too fast. Ginger loves that kid too...

Oh, and I guess he won the Halloween costume contest while I was gone to state. My awesome step-sister was watching him and took him to their ward party as a girl. She says she has pics, so I'll have to get them from her! I can't wait to see them either!