Happy Birthday, You're finally ONE!!

We, in the Bell household, would like to wish an extra special happy birthday to Eli's best buddy Tanner. He's actually turning 4 today, but since it's a leap year, it's almost like he's only turning one. I think he gets a good deal out of the whole thing. His mom was telling me that in years past, they would celebrate on the 28th AND the 1st. I think that would be nice. Also, they get a free family pass to the zoo because his birthday is today. Why didn't Eli wait 9 more days to come? We could have also had a free family pass too. Oh well, I guess I didn't have it too bad with him. He came early and was healthy. I really shouldn't ask for anything more. Well, Tanner, we hope you have a great day full of caged animals, fun toys, and too much cake!

Eli's birthday..finally

So, Eli's birthday was last week and I'm now getting to it. I know you have all been dying to find out what we did. There were some more pressing matters that needed tending to before I got the chance to sit down and blog about this. Eli had eye surgery the day after his birthday (Sorry Eli!) and then we had about 4 doctors appointments to go to, oh, and then there was life. You know, like every day things. We did so many fun things that it's going to take a bit of space to cover it all. Fortunately for you, I'm just planning on putting mostly pictures, since I took about 170 of them in one day. Like I said, we did so many fun things and I wanted to capture everything. I think I might have to do this in 3 parts.


The first part of the day involved a surprise trip to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving point. Eli was soooo excited that he strutted into the museum, walking on the balls of his feet and putting his hands on his hips. This picture doesn't quite do the moment justice, but it's as close as I could get.

Isn't he so handsome?

It's a good thing Mike and Leah found that cave, otherwise, those hungry dinosaurs would have eaten them. They look starved!

Oh NO! Mike came out of his hiding place and the dinos are about to get him. It's a good thing Eli's there to roar at them and scare them away!

Don't worry. Leah's face doesn't always look like this; she's just pressing it up against the glass to get a better look at the stegosaurus.

AH, the erosion table. It's every ones favorite. Fortunately, Mike, Eli and Leah were the only kids there, so they got ALL the dinosaurs all to themselves!

This dinosaur is very slippery. It was quite a feet to get all of us on. Soon after the picture was taken, I fell off.

Mike's in trouble again. It's a good thing we brought Eli to the museum with us. He quickly goes to work ripping the limbs off the dino to save his daddy.

At least Mike leaves on a good note, with the world in his hands!

BIG NEWS!!!

The polls are closed and the votes are in. Fortunately, they don't determine the outcome of what the gender of our third baby is. If it did, we would be having a girl. But instead, we're having a boy! Now, I looked at the poll earlier today and the votes were 10 to 9 in favor of girl. I looked at it again just now and those numbers were switched. My guess is that someone who found out what we were having switched their vote at the last minute just so they could say they were right. I don't know for sure though. So, if you did change your vote after finding out what we were having, fess up! Be honest!! Come on!!

Also, if there's anyone who voted more than once (MIKE BELL), please also confess. Or, better yet, keep me in the dark. It made me feel good to see how many people voted. That makes me think that lots of people read my blog. :~)

Keep an eye out for a new poll entitled: What will the name of the new baby Bell be?
Here are your choices and vote for you favorite:
1. Albacore-my favorite kind of canned tuna
2. Requiem-my favorite word in the dictionary
3. LaVerkin-my favorite town in Utah
4. Plate-my favorite thing to put food on

I know, it's a tough choice. They're all so good. Please, take it seriously. Naming a child is a big deal and we don't want to choose poorly. If you have any other suggestions, please let us know. We'll take them into consideration!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

The snow starts to melt,
And some warmth can be felt,
And the sun does appear!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Now, I realize full well that it's still only February, but I have really enjoyed the weather today and it makes me think that there might be an end in sight. My kids played outside today!!! I also drove around with my car window down a little bit because the sun made my car hot!!!

And now, with that said, I'm ready for the six feet of snow that will probably come at the end of March and the additional 3 feet that will come in the middle of April. ::SIGH::

I don't think "Where a kid can be a kid" exactly covers it

Eli's birthday was yesterday, YIPPEE!!!! (I took about 200 pictures of all the things we did, so it will be a while before I post them, it's a lot to sort) One of the traditions that has started to form in our little family is that we take the birthday person to whatever restaurant they want to go to on that day. SURPRISE, Eli wanted to go to Chuck-E-Cheese. I was fine with that, except for the animatronic band that sings stupid '80's songs every 5 minutes. They creeped me out when I was 8 and they creep my out now!

So, I wanted to rush through the pizza to get to the good part of dinner...the games!!! I still get really excited when I play the games and see all the tickets pouring out of the slot. Who wouldn't? After all, the more tickets you get, the better prizes you can choose. We started the evening with 6 adults, 2 children, and 180 tokens. After about an hour we ended up with 6 adults, 2 children (I'm glad we didn't lose anyone along the way, all those blinking lights can be very disorienting), and over 1000 tickets!!! Now ask yourself, "How many of those tickets did Eli win all by himself?" The answer is, probably 20, at the most. Leah didn't even win that many, although she did try her darnedest at ski-ball. All those tickets came from the outstanding efforts of the adults involved. And, honestly, I think they all had just as much fun as Eli did. Let's also consider for a moment how many games Eli actually played, compared to the rest of us. Hmmmm....perhaps I shouldn't mention it; you might think we're bad at taking turns. All that really matters is if Eli had a good time, which he did.

All those tickets went to very good use. I chose a little feathery purse for Leah and Eli chose 10 giant bugs and 2 big snakes. I just love the innocence of youth. Clearly, he didn't grasp the full weight of holding 1000 Chuck-E-Cheese tickets. He could have gotten a BIG prize. All he wanted were those bugs and snakes and I'm okay with that. Those things can't really break and they'll keep him entertained a whole lot longer. I hope he's always satisfied with the smaller prizes. I can't always guarantee such a big win every time we go (which for us is once a year, so far).

In conclusion, I would like to say a special thanks to my honey Mike and my father-in-law Doug for being the top winners last night. Those two alone won almost half the tickets. And, an honorable mention goes out to Mike and Shaina Burgoyne and Caryl, my mother-in-law, for helping to provide the remainder of the 1000 tickets. And I need to also pat myself on the back for bringing in a goodly amount.

One final thought before I end: I would like to propose a change to the Chuck-E-Cheese slogan. Instead of "Where a kid can be a kid", I think it should be something like "Where people of any age can act like children, as long as all tickets won go toward benefiting a real child and not toward trying to win the cheap CD player that costs 10,000 tickets". I'm not sure though. It might not be catchy enough. What do you think?

Hated living there, but sad to see it go.

I have some potentially upsetting news for those of you who went to BYU, but no longer live in the greater Utah County area. Our beloved Deseret Towers is on its last legs. I have driven past the former housing complex twice a week, almost every week, since last winter and have been watching the progress in its demolition. I actually got to watch one of the halls be crushed by a wrecking ball. It was pretty cool to watch although I'm sad they didn't use dinomite; that would have been more exciting to watch. Eli and I pulled into the parking lot by DT field stood on the sidewalk for a few minutes and watched. It was fun. That was several months ago. Now there are only 2 1/8 buildings left.

What's especially touching is that, judging from the current path they're taking, U-Hall will be the last one standing. I know that many of my readers will shed a tear when that one falls. That's actually where I met most of the people I am friends with now. I do have to admit, though, I hated living there. I went from living with my mom and three brothers to living with 40 girls and no way of sound-proofing my room. Not a very easy transition. I will never forget the MANY times I would hear girls running up and down the halls screaming about boys. UGH! I also remember how many phone calls I received from my friend who was just 3 doors down from me!! (Janelle, you know who you are!) The common room was also a place where many memories were made; they mostly involved sweaty girls doing Ty-Bo. (I have pictures and if you're not careful, I'll post them!) The community bathroom was another unforgettable feature to this wonderful dwelling. There were girls shaving their legs in the sink, girls who took showers that lasted FOREVER, and the scary hispanic lady who cleaned it every day. (And for all you male readers, girls poop and it doesn't smell good! Shocker, I know!) I loved the phone system though and the Sunday night broadcasts only the girls in U-Hall floors 2 &3 would receive on their answering machines from those mysterious Chinese boys in Q-Hall. KBC is still my favorite radio station. And do I even need to mention Visiting Hours? Double UGH!! Ok, enough inside jokes that only half my readers will understand.

Oh, the memories. There are so many more and I have pictures to prove them. Be grateful that they are packed in a box right now! It was fun living there and making life-long friends, but I would never want to relive it!!! I'm sad to see it go. If anyone wants a piece of the rubble from the destroyed tower, just let me know and send me enough money to pay for the fine I'll get for tresspassing in a dangerous work zone!

If you want to check out footage of one of the buildings being torn down, here's a cool link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-D35zR1uWY

If you're not careful, it'll happen to you too!!

Thanks to Brittney Miskin for tagging me. I didn't really know what it was until I read her blog and saw my name there. So, to all of you reading this right now, check out my answers to these questions and check and see if I put YOUR name at the end of the entry to see if you have to do it next!!
1. What was the best thing you cooked last week?I don't usually cook, but I did bake really good peanutbutter chocolate chip cookies.
2. If money, time and babysitting were no object, where would you go and with who? Some Spanish-speaking country with a nice tropical resort. Of course I would take my honey, Mike with me!
3. When was the last time you cried? I'm happy to say I don't remember
4. Five things you were doing 10 years ago?
1- I was a sophomore at Salisbury High School
2- I was getting ready for the soccer season to start
I can't remember anything else
5 - Five things you were doing 5 years ago?
1- I was engaged
2- Going to school full time at BYU
3- Making wedding plans, getting a wedding dress, etc.
4- Spending all of my time with Mike
5- Trying to pass my classes and get some sleep because I was spending all of my time with Mike
6- Five things you were doing 1 year ago?
1- Getting ready for Eli's 3rd birthday
2- Trying to potty train Eli
3- Trying to help Mike find a job
4- Taking care of Baby Leah, who was 5 months old
5-Hanging out with friends down in Provo
7 - Seven of your favorite hobbies:
1- Playing Soccer
2- Watching HGTV
3- Doing crafts
4- Playing video games
5- Painting/drawing
6- Watching movies
7- Blogging
8 - Five favorite foods:
1- Chinese, especially egg rolls
2- Chocolate Chip Cookies
3- Really good bakery bread
4- Chocolate Milk, I know that's not a food
5- Pizza
Five places you’ve been:
1- Florida
2- California
3- Las Vegas
4- Ohio, exciting, I know
5- Bahamas
10- Five favorite memories: (in no particular order)
1- High School soccer
2- Marrying Mike
3- Having Eli and Leah
4- My freshman year when I got to hang out with my brother Will a ton!!
5- Any fun, silly thing I've done with Mike

People I will be tagging are: Shaina and Sarah B. so that you will have something new to blog. Sarah K. because it will annoy her and she needs to blog something new also. Shannon Martino (I read your blog often!). Okay taggies, copy and paste and put your own answers in your own blog, then tag at least four other people.

What?! I've only done it two times. It's not like I'm addicted!

Who am I kidding? I am addicted. My only problem is that my drug of choice is in very short supply. What am I addicted to, you ask? Those dirty Stephenie Meyer's books about vampires. So far I've read Twilight and New Moon and I think I finished both in less than two weeks. The second one I borrowed from a friend (thanks for being my supplier Brittney) on Thursday and just finished today (Sunday). These books are each over 500 pages long. I know they are a bit on the middle/highschool level, but I have never read a book that fast before in my life. Actually, I don't think I've ever even completed a book that long, let alone 2! (Please refer to my previous blog where I mention that I don't read)

I just can't get enough. I think what draws me to reading them is that I can completely dive into the story and be totally absorbed!! And it doesn't hurt that the hero of the stories is very swoon-inducing. The addiction is so bad that I have put off sleep to read these books. Last night I stayed up until 1am to read. That's a pretty crazy thing for me to do considering my "delicate condition" and all. It's a good thing I'm done with the second and won't see my supplier until probably Wednesday. That means I might actually pay attention to my children and husband and maybe get some sleep. But I don't think I can wait that long until my next fix.

Well, there you have it. Admitting you're addicted is the first step to recovery. But I'm not ready to give it up just yet. At least not until I've read books 3 and 4, and the first one over again followed by the first book rewritten in Edward's perspective. And, of course, I will see the movie. Crap, there's no hope for me.

Please leave your comments and tell me about your addition to those wonderful vampire books. I need a support group! If you haven't read them, read them, become addicted (almost inevitable), and then you can join the support group. The more the merrier!!