MEET CINDERELLA (of the male kind)

AND THIS IS HOW I GET MY HOUSE CLEAN...

Duties included:
- straighten up living room and kitchen
- vacuum living room (12 seconds was his record)
- wipe down cupboards
- wipe baseboards
- vacuum and clean windowsill
- scrub 2 TOILETS
- dust
- clean/scrub down bathtub
- take out trash
- basically anything else I told him too

I can now see why people have children!

ps thanks Kace!

DEAR BRENDA

Dear Brenda,


Yesterday you got mad at me because I hadn't updated my blog. How was I supposed to know that you used my blog as your lunchtime entertainment? That you like to read about the adventures of Heidi and Clayton as you eat your tuna fish sandwich (with relish). I guess "how I was supposed to know" isn't worth dwelling on, as much as how I will remedy the problem.


Let me tell you about last weekend ok? Friday night while you were home doing feet (btw - when can you fit me in?) or watching some NASCAR race, Clayton and I were joining the Harry Potter to watch the latest movie. Now you know that I am not a Harry Potter lover (don't worry I'm expecting hate mail from probably everyone who reads that last line), but I love my husband and he does enjoy Harry (not like that you sick-o!) so in order to achieve my self proclaimed status of "Wife of the Year" I got us tickets. We went, we watched, we left. It was too dark and depressing for me. I like my movies with fluff and hearts and love and rainbows ("so bright! so vivid! what does it mean?"...if you don't get that check out double rainbow guy on youtube). However the C-man seemed to enjoy it. Oh yeah and by the way...going to a theater with assigned seats is the ONLY way to go. Forget this waiting in line for a seat crap. Assigned seats are a beautiful thing.

After the movie we checked out another new frozen yogurt place. Yes I know these places are so popular that they could rival 7-11 in store quantities. We tried out Farr's Fresh in Ogden. There was one thing about this place that was different than the others. In addition to self-serve frozen yogurt they had self-serve CUSTARD and self serve ICE CREAM! Brilliant. I really liked it and would list it as in my top 5 favorite Utah FroYo places. However, I did eat more of the custard and the ice cream than the yogurt so I did leave feeling a little more guilty...just a little. Or maybe my guilt had something to do with Clayton's small cup of custard/ice cream/yogurt and my GRANDE Mt. Everest sized cup of custard/ice cream/yogurt. Yeah that was probably it.

Oh and guess what else, Brenda...they had a fire place inside! How awesome is that!?!

Ok so remember last week how I told you that we were going to run this fundraiser 5K for Tyler Nielsen an Iraqi war veteran who lost his job at ATK and then found out that he had colon cancer? Well Saturday was race day. Sadly we haven't ran a race all year so when the wind and rain woke me up at 4 am on Saturday morning I knew that it wasn't going to be fun. This was the first race where Clayton and I didn't run together. He had set a goal of finishing in 20 minutes (9.3 mph on a treadmill...he accomplished his goal several times on a treadmill that week) and I ... well I didn't really care... until I saw the Bear River High School basketball team there and decided that I wanted to beat them. The race was cold. Very cold. Very windy. Very rainy. Very cold. Clayton finished in just over 21 minutes and I finished in 22:15 and YES we both beat the high school basketball team! If you want to read more about Tyler and his story or donate go to http://www.conqueringcoloncancer.weebly.com/.

After talking to my mother-in-law one time about the 5 temples in Utah that we have not been too she commented that she was shocked that after all our Provo BYU games we had never done a session in the Provo LDS Temple. So we thought, "Hey we have time to kill before the last BYU home football game so why not!?!" So we did. Coldest. Session. Ever. Not cold as in spiritually, but cold as in temperature. Seriously. so cold. But warm in spirit!

This picture was taken by the missionaries. they are obligated to do service, right?

I know that you don't like BYU Brenda, but please find joy in my joy that they won. And yes it was a cold game. And yes we packed mucho hot chocolate. And yes my dad informed us that too many sweets gives him gas. gross.

Well my dear friend, Brenda...I hope you have enjoyed your latest installment of our weekend activities. And I'm going to heed your advice and do my thanksgiving "I'm thankful" post right after I finish making my Thanksgiving pie.

Till then my friend...much love and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Love,

Heidi

ps. I updated last night too so I think with Thanksgiving tomorrow I think you should be covered until Monday

THE RING

You might remember THIS accident that happened back in June. Our bodies weren't the only thing that came out bloodied, battered and bruised. My wedding ring looked like Two-Face from Batman. One side was scratched up really, REALLY bad, while the other side was perfect. When we took it into get fixed a few weeks ago they told me that I would be without it for a week. A WEEK!?! I had two choices I could A) play hooker/home wrecker for a week and go without my ring or B) resort to the my first engagement ring. What you ask? You had an engagement ring before the engagement ring. Why yes I did.




It all happened back in June of 2005. Clayton and I knew we were going to get married, I just didn't have the ring yet. In fact we had the temple booked before Clayton proposed and before I had the ring. Yes we were one of those couples. If you know Clayton you know that he is somewhat of a perfectionist. Not only that but decisions are HARD for him (except who to marry that is...I was an easy choice because I was such a catch...haha). So when it came to choosing a ring he wanted to do it all himself...which was totally fine by me. I showed him different styles I liked and he came up with a design for the band. Now it was diamond choosing time. He had mucho appointments with a guy from his home ward who was a jeweler. This guy showed him diamond after diamond. Never were they good enough so back to square one they went. It was a loooong process.



So there we had about 7 weeks until we were to get married and he hadn't proposed and we hadn't planned anything (except for scheduling the Temple). Not that I cared. I was with the man I loved and that was all I needed. But I am also sort of a procrastinator. We were walking out of Wal*Mart one day and there off to the side was one of those claw machines. Usually we don't give those things a glance, but for some reason this day we did. Inside was a bright, shiny diamond ring with a plastic gold band. Realizing how long this ring process was taking Clayton suggested that we should just get my ring there. I agreed. After realizing that he didn't have any change he asked me if I had $0.50 (yes I had to buy my own ring). The money went in the machine, Clayton took charge of the control stick and told those claws "what was up" (aka he got/won the ring).


Little did I know that he would be proposing later that night. When he did propose he FIRST gave me the fake Wal*Mart claw machine ring. I thought it was a joke. But then seconds later found out that he was serious and he had the real deal ring. When we went to my house the next day to see my family I wore the fake ring to see what they would say. They were all so nice to tell me how "pretty" it was when it was so blatantly obvious that they didn't like it but were saying it was nice to spare my feelings. I wanted to see how long I could keep them going that the gold plastic ring was the real deal, but it only lasted 30 minutes or so because Clayton didn't want them to think that he had bad taste (uhhh...they couldn't think that because he picked me) and didn't know me or my tastes at all. So I finally introduced to the real ring. Which they liked much better.

The Wal*Mart fake ring and my abnormally large hair pours And that is the story of the first engagement ring.

PS I wore it for a week proudly!

PPS

Dear SE Needhams,

Sorry that I didn't originally buy my ring from your store. If you really believe the Needhams "is the store where Utah gets engaged" you have eaten one too may of your own diamonds. I did not like the look your clerk/sales lady gave me when I answered her question on if I bought my ring from you guys. You would have thought that I was coming into your store with some sort of infectious disease.

Sincerely

Heidi

AN ALMOST PERFECT WEEKEND

10 REASONS WHY LAST WEEKEND WAS "ALMOST" PERFECT

1. Went to dinner with our long lost friends TJ and Kim and their cute little Jackson. Thanks for meeting up with us guys. I'm thinking next time Tooele and the tank museum.

2. Visited with Grams (no picture...but you can see her in her cute boots if you scroll down a few posts).



3. BYU 55 UNLV 7. Now this is where the "almost perfect weekend" comes into play...I really could have used a shut out, but with the way this season has gone I will take the 7 points and still be happy about it. It almost felt like the good ol' days of BYU football was back...almost

4. TCU 47 Utah Utes 7. Again a perfect weekend would have included a Utah shutout, but I will take the spanking Utah received from TCU and be happy...very H-A-P-P-Y! I have said all season that Utah is over ranked and that they haven't played anyone to deserve their high ranking in the polls. A big thanks to TCU for proving I was right. Oh happy, happy day. (Side Note: Rachel do NOT let Nate read this post. thanks love me).

Dear Utah Utes,

Thanks for sucking.

Love Heidi

*picture taken off of Boston Globe website. 5. Wearing flipflops and t-shirts while watching Football in the state of Utah in (this is the kicker) NOVEMBER! Doesn't get better than that. I'm sure at the next home game (Nov. 20) I will be in my ski coat. sigh.

ps. the big feet are mine and yes I have HUGE feet.

6. Erik's birthday party. The celebration called for pizza, ice cream and brownies. My favorites. You would have thought it was my birthday. Thanks for being born Erik!

ps. this picture is a total stage. Kami was too slow on the camera trigger so he had to fake it.

7. Accidentally running into a new FroYo store while shopping for game treats in Provo. A hidden gem I tell you. Besides the fact that it was one of the cheaper stores in Utah at $0.35/oz, they had 16 DIFFERENT FLAVORS. At least 1/3 of the flavors (i.e. New Orleans Praline Pecan, Creme Brulee, German Chocolate Cake, Banana, etc.) I haven't seen at any of the other FroYo stores. Not only were they different, but they were good.

In case I haven't mentioned this before...Clayton just loves to have his picture taken.

The wall tile job looks like something you might see on the floor of a bathroom, but the yogurt made up for what the decor lacked.


Yogurt makes Pops happy
Yogurt makes Mom happy
Yogurt makes Heidi happy
Happy wife makes Clayton happy

8. Extra hour of sleep and 9:00 church. Most people complain about daylight savings. If I had to go to my 1pm ward on this particular week I would have complained too. 1 pm church on daylight savings is like 2 pm church. Doubly awful whammy. However, this year it worked in my favor. We had to be in Ogden for a baby blessing at 9am. So extra hour of sleep AND 9 am church with the rest of the day to ourselves. Beautiful.
*pic taken off of Google Images
9. Sunday nap. Sunday nap isn't something I get very often, so when I do get it I treasure it. Sadly this picture isn't of me...I don't own a hammock. wish I did. First I need to plant two big trees. Oh how the nap was heavenly. So fitting for a Sunday. Although when I woke up my first sight was of Austin Collie of the Indianapolis Colts (formerly of BYU) strapped down on a stretcher. I thought he had died. Tis not so. Just a concussion.

*nap photo taken off of Google images

10. Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread. Yep made another batch at the request of my husband. Man that stuff is good.

*yep another picture taken off of Google images

3 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN

HALLOWEEN 2010

Since Halloween was on Sunday we celebrated all weekend long.

FRIDAY

Carved pumpkins and took the traditional "pumpkin head" pictures. Earlier in the week Clayton said, "Heidi would you please try to put a little more effort into your pumpkin this year?" TRANSLATION: please don't do the triangle eyes again. Obeying my husbands wishes I did round eyes...and even went as far as to make eye balls (I know! my talent amazes even me). However, the toothless grin is a classic that I refused to change.
SATURDAY

The next morning we woke up and did some work for the dead (aka. went to the Temple). After that we hit up the corn maze at The American West Heritage Center. It was raining so the only ones there were the 3 kids on the pony rides and us. What!?! People don't want to trudge through the mud in the rain and cold. Go figure. Looks warm doesn't it!
The soggy hay jump. Wanted to steal the umbrella of the mom with the three kids on the pony ride and pretend that I was Mary Poppins, but decided that stealing an umbrella from a mom and her 3 kids when it is pouring rain is kinda mean.
Dark maze. I guess it isn't so dark when you have a camera no is it!

SUNDAY

We started the season of Pumpkin by making Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread. Let's be honest...pumpkin in the spring=not so great. Pumpkin in the summer=sick. Pumpkin in the Fall=amazing. Later we headed to the inlaws for dinner and then out came the gasoline for the traditional pumpkin burn. Chole enjoyed the show. And that is a Halloween W-R-A-P.