CO not OC

Last summer we were living in OC for the summer for work. It was so warm and beautiful there. This year we are in Co. Highlands Ranch to be exact. So far Colorado seems very similar to Utah. As far as the weather, it snowed on Saturday after Friday was about 78 degrees. Just as unpredictable as Utah. Our ward was loud and enormous. Tons of cute little blonde kiddos and lots of chairs in both sections of the overflow. And not to mention, a packed "mothers room". Just like our ward in Utah.

Co.
At the apartment complex we are living in they allow dogs. I have never seen so many dogs in one place in my entire life. They are EVERYWHERE! I went to the grocery store and there was 2 entire rows of dog stuff. At the grocery store?? Yep. And then i go to Costco and there was an entire back wall with 50 different kinds of dog food. A little wierd if you ask me.
This morning I went to drop off some of our working friends at the airport and on my way back i had to stop to pay $2 at a toll booth. No big deal. Then 8 miles later another pesky $2. I thought "$4 just to get home?!" taking the same freeway the entire way home and 2 different toll booths! Spoke too soon, another $1.75 please. Who would have thought?
I really am excited to be here. I was very surprised at how green it is. Trees disguise all of the buildings and canopy over beautiful jogging paths. Speaking of green, everything here is 'organic'. Another 2 entire iles at the grocery store of pure organic-ness. I am excited about this.

Come see for yourself! And if you are coming in through the airport, just remind me to bring my piggy bank.

Hill

My sister in law Hill (Hillary) is always full of all kinds of fun ideas! I called her the other night (when i was supposed to be somewhere in 30 min with an appetizer for 12 people) in a panic... I had just walked in the door and nothing planned. She quickly skimmed through her internal recipes and came up with the perfect one! It saved me and everyone at our dinner loved it.
Hill came up with all of the cute and fun ideas for our wedding(double) reception like a cute "Happily Ever After" sign and tons of cake platters which i LOVED! She also knows the correct words/wording for EVERYTHING. Like "cording" "vellum" and lots lots more.
Anyway, what im trying to say is she is GREAT! and i wanted all of you to see one of her latest great ideas:

Sweet Deal!!

Right now @ Smith's they have a sale on all kinds of things like:
Goldfish crackers
Gatorade
Cake Mixes
ALL are only $.50!
Peanut Butter is $1.00 and all kinds of other yummy things. Go check it out! Thanks for the tip Miss.

I bought 4 cases of gatorade 6 cake mixes( Hill these are to add to my collection) and 10 packages of goldfish and i only spent like $30!!

Dr.

11.5lbs 23inches

Brother

2 years in Norway and now he is ours (and the Nethercott's). We are so excited to have you back Alec!

In the a.m.

In the mornings Grace usually wakes up around 7 or 8 and i feed her and she goes right back to bed for a few more hours. So this is when i usually go run errands or work out. Well the other day i turned on my phone and found this sweet background. Josh loves his time in the mornings just him and Grace.

New Binky

I went upstairs to check on Grace the other day and look what i found! A new binky being devoured in her little mouth. Im shocked she took it and hasnt noticed that its not the binky she has had the past 2 months of her little life. Yay to getting rid of the green soothie!

Any Suggestions?

Well my $30 vacuum from the Target thanksgiving day sale went ka-put! I have to say that it was worth every penny. But we are on the look out for a new one that will last. Does anyone have a vacuum that they LOVE or would recommend?

For Rent

We are looking for some sweet people to love our home for us this summer. If you know anyone who needs a place let me know. I can email you more info about details, but spread the word!

Two Thumbs Down

I dont know how to take off the underline. But this movie was pretty bad. It was really scary and the antagonists in the movie were always screaming in your face. I made josh turn on the lights and then watch the rest of the movie on mute or in fast forward. I dont reccomend this movie unless you are really really brave and dont mind the spirit leaving.

David

I know I'm not alone when I say that David has "got it going on"! He is so humble and so talented and everyone i have talked to says the same. I know that he has had a few not so "hot" performances lately, but i think this week he will bring it back.

Each week after he performs, I try and think of a way that I could get him to come over for dinner so that he can sing to Grace. I could make whatever his favorite food is... Mexican, Italian, BBQ hahahah. She is already a fan too.

Smoothies

I think that i have become obsessed. Every time I go to Costco (my favorite store) I come home with more fruit. 10lb boxes of oranges, enormous cartons of pears, bags of carrots and buckets of bananas! I LOVE FRUIT!! That is my staple food along with the strawberry Special K.
These smoothies are so easy. Just add all the fruit you can possibly fit + some juice and you have yourself a wonderful healthy lunch, breakfast, dinner, snack or dessert! It can really be all of those and i love them!

Happy Girl

Daddy Look-A- Like

Cousin Wes

Wes took care of Grace the other day in the back of the car while Jenilyn and I shopped at Tai Pan, Downeast, and Ikea. He is so cute, when i ask him where the baby he looks right at her and points. SO CUTE!

Sunday Best

Blessing Day

My sweet husband did an amazing job! And we had so much support from family and friends. What a sweet day it was.

Target

We had our first outing to Target and Walmart the other day, and im not sure how all of you Moms do it! I had no room to put anything in my cart. So when we went to Walmart, i thought i would put my carseat on the seat part of the cart, but when i was pushing it, the carseat slipped and almost fell out! We are still getting used to all this. But we are thrilled to say that one thing we have figured out is that Grace loves to sleep! She has been letting me sleep from 12:30 - 6:30 every night this week! Yay!

My Favorite!

Bath Time

Cousins

Kate will introduce the purse, wallet and baby doll to Grace.
Jake and Dylan will be teaching Grace lots of cool tricks from Star Wars and showing her how to wrestle.
This is Wes and Aunt Jenilyn. Wes will be teaching Grace how to use her lungs for things like grunting and yelling. He is so good at that!
These are Grace's favorite cousins in California. Dallin and Evie. These are the cousins who will teach Grace how to be on a schedule. And that naps are not so bad after all. Evie is only about 3 1/2 months older than Grace but still only weighs 12 lbs!
This is Grace's cousin Ellie who is only 6 weeks older than she is! I think they will be teaching each other about shopping and boys! They will be great friends.

before and after

Grace Arlene Collette

Here she is!! And here is the scoop:
6:00 am- My water broke and i didnt believe it
6:30 am- I was forced to believe it = )
I woke up my Man who didnt believe it either and we went through the list of what to bring to the hospital just to make sure i didnt forget anything.
8:00 am- We checked into Labor and Delivery and by 9:00 they put me on Pitocin so that i would start feeling my contractions
10:00 I was definately feeling contractions, but we thought that maybe my body could handle creating all of the necessary ingredients to send me through my labor, so we went off Pitocin
2:00 pm- Went back on Pitocin
4:30 pm- I was fully dilated and ready
The Nurse finally returns from another delivery that was supposed to be short and by
6:00 pm- I started pushing
8:00 pm- She was stuck!
The Doctor arrived and told me that she was posterior (face up) and that i had previously broken my tailbone and that it was in the way.
8:58 pm- Grace arrived!!
We named her after Josh's grandma Grace Collette and after my grandma Arlene VanWagenen, both beautiful and amazing women. We want her to be just like them.
Thanks to all for the prayers and support!
And a special thanks to our Mom's and sisters! They have been so generous!!

11 days left!

This is the Combi EX Travel System. I am curious if anyone has this stroller, or just one that they love that you would recommend? I have a Combi carseat that i am borrowing from my sister that Wes has out grown, but i thought it might be a good idea to just invest in a really nice one that ill have for a while. What stroller do you have and would you recommend?

My Yummy Yummy Man..

Spoiled me this weekend! I cannot believe the presents he got me but ill just mention my FAVORITE: A new treadmill, jogging outfit and new shoes that match his! What a surprise.

We Love Photo Booth!

Going Home

Josh and I are so excited to go spend Christmas in Sacramento! He has been up all week until 5am studying for finals, so today after 4:00pm... ITS PLAY TIME!! We are so anxious for sleeping in, my Dad' s famous BBQ salmon, turkey and garlic chicken, and BIG soft ginger cookies, Call of Duty (him), Uno, old home movies, Dovewood Court and lots and lots of relaxing. Also 3 tee times for the boys and shopping for the girls.
The energy at my parents house when you get all 5 of us girls and our babies and spouses under one roof is INSANE! hahahah we hope that all of you have a fun and MERRY CHRISTMAS! We sure will miss our Collette family this year, but we are excited to celebrate with them on Saturday.

Yay for Vacation!

Trees

As many of you know, my sister Jenilyn is full of all kinds of unique and crafty ideas. Last year i went to her house and she had a version of these on her coffee table and i fell in love. Ill get her to post her trees because the look 100x better than mine, but this is my version. Cute and FUN!