Funny stuff

I love blog trekking- you know, reading someone's blog, clicking on all their links and pretty soon you find yourself on a total strangers blog that is great! I have made so many pseudo friends this way... sad. Anyway, this clip was a find from one of those blog treks and it is hilarious. Tracy Morgan is acting totally wasted on live TV and it's priceless!

Speaking of Tracy Morgan, I love the new show 30 Rock. It was created by Tina Fey from Saturday Night Live and it's a comedy about what goes on behind the scenes of a sketch comedy show. Alec Baldwin is comic GENIUS in it. Seriously, he steals every scene he is in. Check out those links if you get a second- they are very funny!

Raindroppy day

I've had my camera for over a year and I'm still learning how to use it better. It's really fun to try to perfect one of my hobbies. The other day this quest for improvement had me running outside in the pouring rain barefoot to try to capture a good photo of raindrops! Chilly but very very fun.

Painting fun

This is what happened today while I was tending Sam and Lily. Painting like this saves on laundry and definitely gives the artist some other canvas options. :)

Johnukkah

We've been busy celebrating Johnukkah. It's a word that is the mixture of John's name and Hanukkah (first created as Jenukkah by my cousin John, for his wife Jen) and it's a weeklong celebration of John's birthday. It's a lot more fun to spread out the celebrations with little events instead of getting the fun over with quickly. John's coworkers gave him a movie pack and surprised him with a birthday cake at the office on his birthday. Then we went to MacCool's for a dinner date and presents. The fun continued with a board game night at the cabin. Finally, a family Sunday dinner with all the birthday traditions (including the really long birthday song and the match trick). John got some great gifts, but the favorite was probably his remote controlled helicopter from Steve and Kerry (and Sam and Lily).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOHN!!

Happy birthday to my dear Johnny! He is amazing and I'm so proud of him! Love you! Love, Barb

Las Vegas girls trip

My dad had a conference in Las Vegas this past weekend and my mom was going to go with him. Then my Aunt Barbara decided to go along... pretty soon it morphed into a fun girls weekend with me, mom, Aunt Barbara, Kerry and Aunt Sylvia (and dad). We even investigated flights from Philly to have Catherine join us but unfortunately that didn't work out. We had fun relaxing by the pool, shopping, eating great food, visiting with Aunt Sylvia (who lives there) and we even got great seats to see Celine Dion perform! It was short but packed with fun! [We sure missed you, Cath!!]

Early Arrival

Congratulations to Thomas and Caroline who welcomed their little daughter, Sophia Rebecca, last Friday (two weeks early)!

PHOTO 1: Sophia Rebecca; Born March 16th, 10:15am. 6 lbs. 7 oz and is 20 1/2 inches long.

PHOTO 2: Grammie, Thomas Jr.(3), cousin Maddie, Kate (6 1/2), Caroline, Sophia, and Emma (5 1/2)

PHOTO 3: Daddy and his 4 kids!

PHOTO 4: Baby's first picture; Sophia, Thomas and Caroline

Mash-ups and other fun stuff

I love spring! Everything just seems a little bit better! Today I was cruising around in my car with the windows down rocking out to the radio and just loving life! People were wearing shorts and flip-flops on campus today, my classes let out early, there were good songs on the radio, and even traffic didn't seem as bad! Wow, I guess I'm just in a really good mood! Well, anyway, I was listening to the radio and every day at 5:15 the new DJ on 101.9 does a mash-up which usually has me laughing as well as singing along. The funniest combinations end up sounding really good! Here's a link to some of the mash-ups they play. Unfortunately, the awesome one they played today ("Stand By Every Breath You Take") isn't up there yet, but you can here it on YouTube. Hope you all have a beautiful spring day wherever you may be!

Spring is here!!

Playing with Sam and Lily in the backyard! Yay Spring!

The resurrection of our social life

When you first get married you're so happy to just be with each other and you kind of forget about everyone else. But then you find yourself sitting on the couch on a Friday night blogging on your laptop and then going to bed by nine thirty. So John and I have started to make more of an effort to socialize with our friends and actually TRY to have a life! Last weekend we had game night with two couples in our ward, Michelle and Greg and Susie and Brent. It was so fun to make dinner, play board games and just hang out. Then this weekend we had a group date with some of my high school friends. The benefits of these social encounters are myriad- the house gets a thorough cleaning, we stay in touch with our friends and we actually stay up past 11:00 pm on the weekends! Here are some pictures of our date night.

PHOTO 1: Andrea and her date, Dave; John; Suzanna and Jeris

PHOTO 2: me and the gals
(Not pictured, Liz and her date- they had to leave early)

Spider-Sam

Sam's Spider-Man themed birthday party was a hit! Steve and Kerry rented a Spider-Man bounce house and Steve, Sam, Lily and I all broke it in before the kids got there. Lily (age 10 months) would manage to stand up inside the bouncer and be so proud of herself that she'd start clapping (which would cause her to lose her balance and fall down again.) Sam had a blast opening up lots of Spider-Man presents and of course, being Spider-Sam!

Happy Birthday, Sam!

It is my little nephew's 3rd birthday today! When his mom asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he replied, "I want a cake. And fire." After puzzling over this for a second, Kerry realized he meant a cake with candles on it, aka 'fire'. Happy birthday, little man! We love you!!

Guitar Hero II

We love Guitar Hero II. Ever since Sam Thornton got it for Christmas, the whole family (including Rick and Sue) have gotten in on the Freebird action. It's funny because John, who plays actual gigs with a real band, still totally digs it and takes it very seriously.
Here's John, Chelsea and Jeff all rockin' out!

There's something in the air...

Congratulations to Suzanna and Jeris who got engaged Saturday night! Suzanna says they are leaning towards a May wedding! Aren't they the cutest couple?? Very blond and tan- they will have cute kids! (I totally stole this picture off of Suzanna's Facebook page, but it is a great one!)

Welcome to the Family!

Congrats to John's brother Mark who got engaged to Chelsea on Friday night! I'm way excited to welcome Chelsea to the family that I love so much! They are a very cute couple! It is so fun to have three East High graduates from the class of 2001 in one family!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

I love those blindingly bright winter days!

Other people's babies

I don't have any kids, but I like to keep up with my friends and their progeny. Here are some recent photos so you can do the same!

Photo 1, Tate Samuel born to Sam (Bear) and Jessica, February 27th.

Photo 2, little Bennett celebrating Susie's birthday. Liz, Andrea, Bennett, mom Sally, and Susie.

Photo 3, Charles Richard, born to Cameron and Lyndsay, February 28th.

Photo 4, Nolan, parents: Matt and Erin aka Danza (shown in December).