An Easter in Boise

Jim and Marji were visiting the Anderson family in Boise for Easter so Jen and I decided to crash their Easter Holiday. It was a quick trip, we only stayed one night. The Andersons were so gracious to let us stay with them and include us with their family. Gabby was so happy to see Thomas and I was excited to see everyone, but especially Kaylee and Mathew. They are so fun and cute. They have such unique personalities. It was great getting to know them in real life. I was a moron and forgot my camera battery charger. All the pictures but the first one is from Jenny's camera. Thanks Jen!

Gabby loves her Easter dress. When we picked it out, she said, "I'm going to be a beautiful princess in this dress." I think she nailed it!

Of course, we have our sister picture minus Pam (we didn't even have her on the phone when we took it). I got myself an Easter dress as well.

Gabby was all set for the hunt!

The Anderson's backyard was thankfully big enough for us to spread out the eggs and avoid fights between the cousins. Although, there were a couple of times that Gabby and Thomas ganged up on David. David has toughened up a lot though.

The kids checking out their spoils from the hunt.

The Quirks That Make Gabby, Gabby

Gabby is definitely her own person. She's truly one of a kind. On Saturday, she found this sweater of mine in a box full of clothes I haven't figured out where to put. Normally when we're home, she strips down to her undies (she calls it wearing her body or being nakey) and refuses any form of clothing. She's in love with this sweater and insisted wearing it all day. We spent the day with my friend Lynn in Provo and her kids. I put jeans on her, but she stayed in that sweater all day, even at McDonalds playland. It's the only thing she'll wear at home.

Gabby has her own eating style. First off, she's the only kid I've ever known to only eat the crust off the bread and throw the middle out. That's how she eats all her food, though. She nibbles around it in a circle until it's gone.

I've explained about her obsession with my hair, but her obsession seems to only be increasing. She insists on holding my hair to drink her juice. I have to lay "backwards" or facing away from her. She will not begin drinking until she has just the right amount of hair in her hand. She has to be close enough to me to be able to rub my hair on her face. I am never allowed to touch her hair. She even holds my hair while I drive, which is a bit awkward with as short as my hair is. She also gets upset if I have my hair in a ponytail and insists that I take it out.

Gabby does not like me to sing at all. Granted, I don't have much of a voice, but she gets angry whenever I try to sing to her.

She hates it when I drive faster than 45 mph. She yells at me to slow down and that she doesn't want to go fast. She always screams the first few minutes we're on the freeway.

Gabby prefers for me to color and provide direction than actually coloring herself. She picks out the color and tells me what to color. She loves to color at school, but with me, she likes to be the director of coloring.

She is an expert at making scrambled eggs. It's her favorite meal and we make it a lot. She directs me in this and recites the exact order the ingredients must go into the pan. She holds her big wooden spoon and stirs it. She adds the salt and pepper and the cheese at the end.

I forgot one of Gabby's most unique quirks! She sleeps with her eyes open. They're usually half open, but it's enough to be unsure whether she's actually asleep or not. This is actually a quirk we share, though I don't think my eyes are open as often as hers are. I'm more known for sleeping with one eye open ;)

Gabby has so many unique qualities, these are just a few. I laugh at her all the time. Our first Sunday in our new ward, Gabby decided to shout, "I got bugars in my tummy, so yummy!" It was pretty funny and thankfully, I don't think anyone caught what she said. She also likes to shout that she has baby in her tummy in order to be like Aunt Jenny and Aunt Pam. As difficult as she can be, she knows just when I need a hug or to hear an I love you from her. I wouldn't trade being her mom for anything.

Gabby's Concert

I'm trying to use my video camera more. Gabby decided she'd put on a mini concert and chose only her best songs. Enjoy!

Office Olympics

UPDATE PART DEUX!

I know y'all've been anxiously waiting to hear about the hula hoop contest. Well, turns out I can hula hoop pretty dang well. It's so wonderful to discover hidden talents. If times ever get rough, I'll just have to put these rockin' skills to work. It's been about 2 years since I've hula hooped, but I kept it going long enough to go to the finals in Hula Hooping! Granted, they put me against the men, but I kept it going for at least a minute. My hips are good for something after all. The Finals are on Friday and I better get a gold in something since I'm not getting any of the profits! I'll get some pictures then, so y'all can see me in all my glory. I think Jello Slurping is really the most noble of the four events. It just has that special quality that anyone can appreciate and admire the skill and dedication it requires to do really well.

AN UPDATE!!!

Today, I competed in our 3rd event, chair racing. Each contender had to sit in their chair and go between "cones"(other people sitting in chairs), grab a flag, return to the start position weaving through the cones. If you touched a cone at all, you had to start over. I found my event! I flew through the course and finished before the other 2 in my heat had hit the back wall. Those watching described my technique to be crab-like. Apparently, I looked like quite the idiot, but dog-gone it, I was an idiot who won. My co-workers seemed a bit surprised and if I'm completely honest, a bit scared by my competitiveness. I believe I'm the only one to qualify for the finals in all 3 events. Next week will be the hula hoop contest. I'm not the best of hula hoopers, but perhaps Lady Luck will continue to smile upon my journey to the Gold!

March is a fun time at Farmers. It's profit sharing month; I don't get to share in the profits this year, but I do get to share in the fun.

Each Tuesday, there is a qualifying event for the top 6 finishers. Last week, it was the Jello Slurping Contest. I managed to place 4th and qualify for Finals. Jello is not my passion nor my strength.

Today was my event, Donut Bobbing. Not just any donuts either, Krispy Kremes. Yes, the perfect event for a donut fanatic. I have prepared and trained for years through my extensive donut consumption (who can forget when I ate an entire dozen on my own as a mere 17 year old). Donut Bobbing is essentially eating a donut off a string without using your hands. I got the Silver and will be in the finals for this event as well. There are 2 events to go.

I'll try to get some pictures of the events so far to post for your enjoyment. I hope for continued success in the 2008 Office Olympics.

Trish

PICTURES!!!!

So I decided that it would be easier and cheaper for me to buy pizza and have the Torgersons over so David could fix my computer. He has it working better than ever. Thanks David!

So this is my new hair. I went for the straight-across bang which I haven't had since I was 12. Gabby was not pleased with the hair cut. She keeps asking me what my bangs are. I tell her they're bangs and she feels her forehead and says, "But I don't have bangs, you don't need them either!"

My new table and chairs

David and Gabby have been on bath strikes since we moved out. Both Jenny and I have force them to bathe kicking and screaming. Sometimes it's easier to let them stink! Since they were together tonight, they jumped in the bath as happy as can be. Gabby even allowed David to play with her ducks. They're cute cousins who only like to bathe with each other now.

Of course, they found the Cheetoes and quickly needed another bath.

I Wish I Could Post Pictures!

So I've been trying to post pictures of my new hair cut and my new table. So instead, here comes my Comcast rant:

Comcast ran a special online for digital cable with HBO and internet for $60/month for 6 months. It took 3 phone calls and for live chat sessions to be able to sign up for service. Of course, when I received my first bill, it was completely wrong! I set up an appointment for installation and Jenny was kind enough to go to my house for the first hour in the 3 hour window they would be coming. I waited and waited and they never came. I called and the installer had said that my number went to a fax machine and he left a tag on the door. He LIED! They didn't even have my number in my record since they're incompetent morons. I set up another appointment. The "installation expert" spent more time watching Cheaper by the Dozen then hooking up my internet. It worked great for like 3 days and then I couldn't upload photos to my blog or download anything from the internet because it was so stinking so slow, everything timed out.

So last night I spent an hour and a half on the phone with 2 different internet support "specialists" and not only were they unable to help me with my problem, my internet is even SLOWER!!! It's amazing how I get a different story from every person I speak with there.

I love my new hair. As Marji, Ranie, and I were always so fond of saying, "New hair, new Trishy!"

I bought a new table and chairs for my kitchen. It matches perfectly with my coffee and end tables. I thought it was a good deal when I bought them, but my salesman called me on Monday to tell me that he would give me store credit for half the cost if I came back to see him this week. so I'm loving Ashley's!

Other than stupid Comcast, things are going great for me. I'm so busy and sometimes it's hard to juggle everything, especially getting enough time with Gabby. I'm getting better at my circus act that has become my life, though.

I really hope Comcast can get their act together so I can show y'all pictures!

My Townhouse

Many of you who aren't in regular contact with me may be wondering why I have a townhouse. Nick and I separated last month. It's been a trying time as I previously posted, but also a time of great blessings and growth. Gabby and I had been staying with Jenny and David. As wonderful as they were as roommies, we really needed our space. I found a wonderful townhouse for a great deal not too far from Jen and David. It's 3 bedroom and 2 1/2 baths. It's an easy drive to work meaning I spend no time on the freeway(that's a really good thing here). I'm close to every store you can name. I have an attached garage so no more trudging through the snow and scraping it off my car (of course it snowed again today!). I'm still settling in, but it feels perfect for us. Gabby made it a whole week without getting a new illness!

This is my bedroom. I haven't hung any pictures up, but it's a good-sized room. The wall to the right of the photo is a gianormous closet. I LOVE it! It's actually completely full since I don't have a dresser for my things yet.

This is Gabby's bedroom with her new bed. David and his dad spent about 3 hours putting it together a week ago along with an armoire for her (They were too nice to help me out like that, David along with my Bishop also helped me move). She loves her bed and is really happy to go to bed each night. Grandma Carla made her the blanket. I was going to buy her a new comforter set, but she's absolutely refused because she loves Grandma Carla's blanket so much. I bought her a beanbag instead and she's completely happy with the room.

I decided to use the 3rd bedroom for Gabby's playroom. She has a ton of toys and they never would have fit in the other room. Jenny actually unpacked most this room when she was waiting for the cable guy to show up the other day (Obviously, Jenny and David ROCK!). Gabby's thrilled to have all her toys again. We spent a long time playing with most of them today.

My living room and kitchen are all one room. The armoire was a beast to move, but I'm really glad David and my Bishop got it here!

I love my kitchen. I really missed not having a pantry. There are actually empty cupboards which feels like such a luxury since I was bursting out of my other kitchen.