Friday, October 31, 2008

All Hallow's Eve


Here's some more Halloween picts of the whole family together. AJ and I joined Aaron around noon yesterday to check out the festivities and to show off our cute baby girl. Here's Aaron trying to look tough, while holding a Fairy. =-)

Halloween Present

These pictures are from my first Halloween at Melaleuca. It was a lot of fun! We were the Wild West. I was a gunslinger (a bad boy cowboy-assassin).





Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Angel and Halloweens past


Since Aaron shared some of his halloweeen costumes I thought I would share some of mine. Here I am at a dress up party - I'm the one holding the lace fan. Most of my costumes growing up were fantasy based (hmmm I wonder if that is because my parents are fantasy writers?).

In 2004 I was a "Southern Belle".

Last year I was a Preggo Pirate.


And here's Aaron's vampire or undead costume from last year.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Peterson Fall Break Visit

A few weeks ago my family (minus brothers) came to visit for their fall break. We had a great time. These are some shots of a place called Mesa Falls. It is pretty close to Yellowstone. It was about an hour drive and completely worth it!














Halloween Continued....A.J. the Ballerina



Ok so impatient Aaron couldn't wait for me to post, I was going to show you how I made the tutu, but Aaron stole my thunder - so I guess not. If you want directions, ask I will be happy to post. - Angel
Angel said she was going to get around to posting some of these pictures, but I couldn't wait any longer. She made this for A.J. for Halloween and I think it turned out very well.







Halloween is Coming....

Since Halloween is one of the best holidays. I thought I would share some former Halloween costumes. Well, not all of them were from Halloween, but I was in a costume of sorts.


Classi Pirate, Aaarggh (I think this was a birthday party)

Santa's little helper (This was actually Christmas. See our poor man's paper tree in the background?)

A rockstar.


Rockstars. (This was President's Day Weekend)


Miami Vice


A Non-Ghetto Gansta (Chicago Style)


A shepherd. (This wasn't Halloween either)


Two broken arms, this was actual reality, scary though! That's why I thought of Halloween.



Priest Garb (Sixth Grade Play) Non-Halloween either, but great costume!


Classic Pirate once again!








The Quirky Things...a TAG from Sarah Yerke


Link the person who tagged you. Mention rules on your blog. Tell about 6 quirks of yours. Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same. Leave a comment to let them know. I was tagged by http://yerke23.blogspot.com/ 6 Quirks?? I am definitely too normal to be tagged for this. Ha ha, just kidding, but it really took me a while to think of 6 quirky things I do. But here they go....

1) When doing the dishes the side of the sink MUST NOT have any food particles left in the drain catch. The kitchen counters must also be wiped off after everything is put away, otherwise the kitchen feels messy.

2) I am not a pack-rat in general, except for one group of things: personal care products! Since I am a cosmetic chemist by trade we have drawers full of random products from the different companies I have worked at. Even if I don't necessary like the product, or could make a better one myself, I don't have the heart to throw most of them away.

3) Baking is therapy. I enjoy baking cookies, cakes, breads, pies, brownies, just about anything. I really have fun making new creations as well. If I don't like them the folks at my work eat them regardless. I wonder if they don't ever eat homemade goodies very often.

4) I never wear my wallet in the butt of my jeans. You ever see the Seinfeld with George's wallet and how big it was? Well, even though mine is no where near that large it really hurts my butt cheek and my back, so I find about anywhere else for it! Usually, it is in my gym bag under my desk, or in my car, or if I am wearing cargo pants, you could find it in one of the side pockets, it doesn't bother me there.

5) Magazines. I never read an article in a magazine before I look through the entire thing, mostly glancing at the pictures. I tend to read the short articles first. Much of the time with the Ensign I read it back to front because somehow it feels shorter to me than front to back.

6) Cold food. I am much more likely to eat my food cold than I am hot for some reason. Take canned soup for instance, I rarely heat it up. I typically just pop open the can, and start eating. It saves time and energy. When I do heat food up I usually only like it luke-warm. I tend to burn my mouth if I heat it up too hot. I was never good at blowing on my food before putting it in my mouth.

That's for you Sarah! Did you know any of those things, eh?

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Holy Gerber Baby Peas Batman!!

Yes Robin, we had the BLOW-OUT of the century the other night (no I'm not talking about BYU beating the pants off of UCLA a few weeks ago). This post is for all you parents out there who wonder how so much poop can come out of something so small and so cute! A.J. did just that to us a few nights ago. We had got done eating dinner, and she was sitting in her high chair being quite pleasant (which was unusual for her at that time of day) and Angel pulled her out of her chair and my friend Matt said, "Angel what's that green stuff all over her back?" I then witnessed the most horrific site yet of fatherhood: Poop EVERYWHERE! Her diaper was absolutely full and so it had to find elsewhere to go, all over her back and in her high chair (brand new I must add). I hosed off the high chair outside and Angel hosed off the child inside and that was the end to the mother of all poops (I hope). If your child has had a worse blow out, PLEASE do share! No pictures please, we don't want blogger to become something like myspace.

Look what your machine can do Mom!



Angel is "borrowing" her mom's cricket (some machine that does all this fancy schmancy stuff for crafts and scrap booking doo dads...) and is having the time of her life. She made a wedding cake for her young women lesson this Sunday. She also made a nice card for one of my home teaching families daughter's baptism today. I think she secretly hopes her mom will forget she has it so she can keep it for the rest of her life.

Coloring outside the lines (and inside too!)

Aaron just had to show you all his handiwork. He's spent the past few evenings working on his masterpiece - so I thought we should take a picture and share it with all of you. He's submitting it for a coloring contest at his company (for the 12+ group). I think he did an excellent job with the shading. What do you think?

Friday, October 10, 2008

"Just Because"


Something that I have learned to be an important part of marriage is "Just Because". I have thought a little bit about this ever since Aaron brought me flowers last week for no reason. "Just Because" is necessary in any good relationship - to do something just for the pure joy of giving to your partner without expecting anything in return. I am thankful for Aaron's sweetness in bringing me something "Just Because" and hope that I do little "Just Becauses" for him!

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Yellowstone Trip!

Angel is walking me through doing my first post since I have never done it before. Mom and Dad (Hickman) came up to IF and we all went for a fun ride to Yellowstone and back last Saturday. We could not have asked for a better day (A.J. was truly an Angel and the fall colors were exquisite)! Just wanted to share some of the great sites for those who have never been before. Just an FYI, there is one Saturday a year that the National Park Service waves all the fees and we went on that day. So if anyone is interested in doing a day trip with us we plan on making this an annual trip. ENJOY!

A.J. enjoying some time out of her car seat. This is also
a great view of my wrinkled ear.

The Grand Tetons are incredible!

Don't these mountains just look haunting? They are sweet!
I need to do a hike there next summer.


Laura @ Yellowstone Lake.

A stunning view of the Grand Tetons

Proud grandparents .

Happy family.

A.J. and the fall colors.


This is a twisted stick that Angel liked.


Yes! The one and only Old Faithful.

A.J. enjoying her favorite fist @ Old Faithful.

Old Faithful through my sun glasses lens.

Angel @ Cascade Falls.

This is one of the hot pots/mud pots/ geyser things....

This is Tracy walking on the Boardwalk at Yellowstone in
the hot pot area

Angel said this looked like I was smoking....I do look a
little stoned.

This is A.J. all bundled up. The morning was a bit nippy.

This is Laura looking oh so contemplative with her camera.