Tuesday, November 2, 2010

What were you for Halloween?

You already saw Maycee was a cute little butterfly... but what About Blake and I right?

Well I just assumed that Blake and I wouldn't dress up this year. For many reasons: Halloween was on a Sunday, we didn't really have any where to go, I have this big belly I didn't want to work around, and Blake's not huge into dressing up (church is about as far as he pushes the envelope).

Wednesday before Halloween my sister Ruth asked if I would trim her hair. (she has me do this from time to time, don't know why she trusts me to do it) She came over and we were taking about her costume. She asked what I was going to be and I gave her my excuses. She was just in awe that I wasn't dressing up, I always do. I love a good costume, whether it is spirit week, Halloween, a family reunion, or any other good excuse for dressing up, count me in!

I was feeling a little guilty about not living up to my... I don't know... normal self. So I asked her, "Well what can I be with this belly? Can't be anything normal, a costume wont fit it."

She said, "give me a minute...." We sat quite for a while then she said, "I got it, I totally know what you could be!"

I was excited..... "A TROLL," she said!

Remember these little guys that everyone collected...

They were cool for a while, remember?


I thought this was a great idea! They have big bellies.... I have a big belly.... Blake's belly hasn't been the smallest lately.... It would totally work out. So Ruth ran to Wal mart with me and we got what I thought we would need.

This was our rendition.....



I think we could have done more with the costume if the idea would have come to me sooner. Like it would have been fun to do some pointy ears, and a big nose. But all-in-all I think we got the important things the belly jewel and the hair.

We did end up having a party to attend too. Our good friends Matt and Kaylee Smith invited a good group of people over for some Halloween festivities. We had a fabulous time!

And yes the hair was not fun to take down. Blake's was easy just a couple washes, mine on the other hand..... Lets just say I wont be doing that again anything soon. Three complete washes and it seemed like an hour of brushing. Head was a bit tender the next day.

We did get around to carving pumpkins too! Blake and I both spent sometime thinking and looking online for good picture "helps" for our pumpkins.

Blake's was a skull, which kinda looks like a monkey.


Mine was a fetus, tried to make it an accurate size of Lydia. Kind of a weird idea, I know... But kinda cool too right?


Can't wait for the next Holiday, THANKSGIVING!!! Just what we need, more food....

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Annual Halloween Carnival

Last night was my parents annual Halloween neighborhood Carnival that is put on by the church. I can always remember going to this event as a kid. It has always been the high light of Halloween for me. Everyone dresses up and they have lots of food and games for the kids. Its fun because all the friends that I grew up with all come back and I get to see a lot of old familiar faces and catch up with them. It is held in one of the cul-de-sacs in the ward.

Here we are at the party, just finished eating our pizza and nachos.
Surprisingly still clean :) (we were bums for not dressing up, next year we are gonna be something fabulous!)


Maycee stayed in her costume the entire time. This was the only time that she allowed us to put the head piece on her. So we quick got a picture. She was by far the cutest butterfly there!

I know this picture is funky but i had to put it in so you could see her cute little smile :)


This year they had a petting zoo. Maycee was funny about it. She waited in line so patiently and kept pointing to the animals jabbering about them. She wanted to see them sooooo bad. We got in and this is how she was.... very VERY hesitant to touch them.

Mostly she just wanted to point and squeal.


There was a pretty good variety of animals.... goats, a cute little big, rabbits that looked about 25 lbs., so weird breed of chickens, and this cute little pony which was incredibly soft! This is the only animal Maycee touched on her own, and really she didn't hesitate about this one. She takes after her mom, she likes the hoarse's the best :)




Maycee was so excited to see her other cousins there. She immediately gave Randy a hug. Doesn't he make a cute Thomas the train!
She even gave little Henry a kiss. Not just a "butterfly" kiss, it was right on the lips! Mom and daddy set a good example :)



Another friend that Maycee liked to be with was "Uncle Sam" we like to call him Uncle Dallin.

A little patriotic for Halloween you say?
Well its the only costume that works when your 10 FEET TALL!!!

Remember those Powerizers the kids got for Christmas. Well Dallin is pretty much a pro on these babies! He was showing off at the party. Bouncing really high, hoppin' on one foot, etc. He said he is still working on the front flip. He wants to wait until track season so he can go make good use of the high jump mats at Meas High, ya know, just in case the front flip doesn't work out like he is hoping.

Maycee with Aunt Rachel, she was a very cute black cat.


Aunt Ruthie I do apologize for not getting a picture of you and Maycee. However, you were a beautiful greek goddess if I may say :)

One of the games Blake has enjoyed over the few years that he has gone to this party is this one.


You get three attempts to throw the ball as fast as you can! Someone is behind a net recording the speed. (I'd hate that job) From what we remeber he has improved every year. Last night he topped out at 68mph! Great job honey! The guys always get real competitive with this game because they have a white board posted at the front of the line that is broken down into age brackets with who is throwing the fastest and what there speed is.

It was a fun evening! By 8:30 we were all ready to be done.


Maycee really did have a good time, we all did :)
Can't wait for next years....

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

A Sign of Relief

I can breathe easy, finally.

It really is a girl.

My only 2 ultra sounds have failed to show any "positive, for sure" girl signs. They have always been "Ya, I don't see any boy parts", "its probably a girl". Those thoughts just haven't been sitting well. I wanted a for sure "ITS A GIRL!" answer. I finally got one!!!

I had an appointment today and my awesome Dr. took a quick look for me. We got a, "positive, for sure, ITS A GIRL!"answer. Glad to have the relief :)

Now I feel like I can tell people the name we have chosen for our sweet little girl :)

Lydia Celeste Brimhall

They are both family names.

Lydia
Is Blake's Great (x5) Grandmothers name. We became acquainted with this name at the last Brimhall reunion over the summer. It was a big "50th" reunion and so each family had a display about their line of the family. We noticed this name on a family pedigree chart, and both told each other we liked it. It wasn't until that evening that we found out a little bit more about Lydia. One of the family members had put together a movie about the family. Where the Brimhall family name comes from, ancestors, neat stories etc. If my memory services me correctly Lydia gave birth to her last child on a boat coming down the Mississippi River and so they decided to name him Noah. There were some other things said about her that aren't coming to my mind at the moment but she seemed like a really neat lady. (hopefully we will be getting a copy of that movie soon)

Celeste is after me. It is my middle name. I am the 2nd daughter of 4 girls in my family. I always thought it would be fun to name my 2nd daughter after me. So we are :)

Now you all have a name you can add to your prayers.....
Lydia Celeste

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Still not convinced... but we are rollin with it!

Well had my ultra sound yesterday :) wasn't to impressed with the tech :( I mean, I had Blake and Maycee in there plus my mother and younger sister came. This was the first time Rachel had ever seen an ultra sound done and the tech was just a DUD!!! She didnt explain anything and when you asked a question she gave the shortest answer she could and was back to her business. She just didn't make it enjoyable at all.... Oh well..... not alot I can do about it.

The tech of coarse checked for the gender (since we did not get a "for sure" answer from the doctor) and unfortunately we got the same response form the tech. "Well, im not really seeing a whole lot going on down there..... it looks like its a girl." Not very reassuring AT ALL!!!! However, we have heard that twice now from two different resources so odds are ITS A GIRL!!!! (there still is that very slim doubt in my mind, hopefully that will pass.... Im just terrified that I will have been "bonding" with a girl for 9 months and then they hand me a boy..... that would be really hard for me I think)

ANOTHER GIRL THOUGH.... How exciting!! Blake and I are really happy about it. We are excited for Maycee to have a little sister that she can be best buds with (hopefully) and that we can dress them with matching outfits and stuff :) Plus we already have a ton of pink so financially that is better for us :)

Anyway, with the good news out of the way lets move on to some more good news.....

I promised a prize for the person that picked the correct gender :)

19 out of 30 of you picked GIRL in the post that I did a while ago but I only picked 1 lucky winner from the hat! That winner is ....... drum roll please.............

ASHLEY KELEPOLO!!!!!

Congratulations you have won a NEW SONIC GIFT CARD with the amount of 5 dollars attached! (You have a Sonic in Egar right?)

Better luck to the rest of you next time :)

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Ooo I love the way you...

I LOVE BLAKE!!!

I love the way that he loves Maycee!

Just the last few days I have really noticed how much he really loves his little girl! I mean it has always been obvious, but lately its just been really profound. It is so amazing to see! These two love playing together!!! Only Blake can get her to actually LAUGH! I love to hear her laugh, and I love that Blake can get her to do it. She loves her dad so much!

Today I was getting ready to leave for work and Blake called to let me know that he was on the way home. He said that he wanted Maycee to stay with him while I went to work. I was kinda surprised. You could tell he really wanted her there, not just to give me a break.

I am just so greatful that I am blessed with such a loving husband that loves me and our little girl! I am excited to see the two become even better friends when the new baby gets here.

I love you Blake!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

News. Thoughts. And a whole lot of nonsense.

LUNCH doesn't get any better than: Homemade turkey and avocado sandwich on a whole wheat bun with miracle whip and brown spicy mustard. Choice of fruit on the side and a cold glass of filtered water. :) Even Maycee scarfed it down!

Our yard is One CAR Less: The camry has left our presence forever! Bitter Sweet. Jose and his friends came and picked it and the title up last night for $500. They got a smokin' deal. Literally. The car drives but it has problems. We don't know exactly what is wrong with it. It could last another year, it could last another day. We weren't willing to find out :) That poor car has seen better days but we were happy to see it go!

I just love the sound that a knife makes when you pull it out of the block.... ZWING! Mine do anyway. Anyone else?

Click... Click... Click! Maycee has learned to click her tongue. She walks around the house, click... click... click. Little stinker won't let me get it on video though!

Why haven't I learned that its so much easier to WASH the DISH (pot or pan) right after dinner is over. I always seem to wait several days, its a terrible, terrible habit.

Blake is all registered for SCHOOL! Its gonna be a fun semester. Only 2 classes but its what we both need right now.

I have an official date for the drawing of the "unknown prize". It will be on the 31st of August, sometime after I get home from my next ultra sound. I will know for sure by then if this baby inside is truly a girl or, on the slim chance, a slow developing boy.

Oh! And I almost forgot.... drumb roll please..... my last day of work is this coming TUESDAY!!! After 4 years and about 9 days I have decided its time to be a Stay-at-Home MOM! Of coarse I am sad to not be able to spend time with Jack and his family so much but this is what MY FAMILY needs right now, ME! I am so grataeful for the friendship that the Thomas Family has show to me (and Blake and Maycee). They have truly been a blessing in our lives.

Growing Up: Maycee sleeps on a "Big Girl Bed" now! Well its just a toddler bed but I can't believe it! She transitioned so well. Slept great on it the first time and hasn't gone back. Now we just need to decide if we keep her in the same room with new little sister or split them up? Blake and I are in disagreement about this one. Good thing we have about 5 months to decide. Whats your advice?



Wednesday, August 4, 2010

NOT Official

POLES ARE CLOSED!!!

Thank you to everyone that participated in the recent voting.

Poles are closed however no winner will be decided until further notice. :)

I had my first doctors visit today. I wasn't sure if Dr. was going to do an ultra sound but he did!!!! I was so excited when he mentioned that he was. However it was a limited ultra sound and we couldn't get a supper good picture of the "gender area" (he DID give it a valiant effort, the little peanut was uncooperative)

He asked, "Do you want to know what it is"?

"Yes", I said with like a "duh" sound in my voice (but not in a rude way).

He said, "Well its a......................................................................................." It was seriously like 10 seconds. "Well, I'm not getting a very good picture but it looks like a
girl."

We talked about it for a bit. He couldn't get a very good shot but he wasn't really seeing anything "protruding" and also did say he saw what look like the female anatomy. He gave me very good odds for a baby girl. 90%. I told him those were pretty good odds. :)

So there you have it. It looks like a
GIRL!!! I don't want to pull any names out of a hat until we have a FOR SURE. So give me about 3 more weeks (that's when my complete ultra sound is scheduled) and we will pick an official winner then.

Blake and I are both VERY excited for the little one! :) Now we just need a name......

If anyone is curious...... the baby was measuring a week smaller which puts my due date around the 21st of January. But he said until another ultra sound he doesn't want to move the due date. So it is still 1-11-11 :) I did kind joke that it would be cool if he could induce me on the 11th because it would be a cool birthday and he said "we could probably work that out" Which kinda surprised me that he was up for it...... but we will see.....



Friday, July 30, 2010

VOTE

Alright Everyone! Time for a vote....

I am getting so anxious about what this baby is gonna be! And I have no clue as to boy or girl!?! One day I hope so bad for a boy and the next day same thing about a girl.

Blake and I would be happy with either and Maycee is not telling us what she wants for some reason. :)

Were gonna take a vote. Leave a comment with your guess either boy or girl. Once we find out what it is (should be anytime now) we will put all the correct guesses in a hat and pull a name out. the winner will get a surprise! I say surprise cause I am not sure what it is yet. Ha ha! But its gonna be something neat!!!

I will edit the post as more votes come in...

ME- Undecided- I'm the only one that can vote this way :)

Mom Mickelson- Boy
Mom Brimhall- Boy
Angie Ellsworth- Boy
Donna Webster- Girl
Kim Higham- Girl
Jenny Carpenter- Girl
Whitney Groscost- Boy
Lindsey Robison- Girl
Allee Johnson- Boy
Marjolein Reman- Girl
Ashley Kelepolo- Girl
Darby Reidhead- Boy
Emery Reidhead- Girl

David Mickelson- Boy
Rachel Mickelson- Boy
Dallin Mickelson- Boy
Kurtis Mickelson- Boy
Larry Mickelson- Girl

Karri Mickelson- Girl
Shea & Yvette Flake- Girl
Yvonne Judd- Boy
Sharon Judd- Girl
Elder Mickelson- Girl
Raena Tellez- Girl
Mike and Kristy- Girl


Thursday, July 29, 2010

One Saturday Morning

A few Saturdays ago we woke and said, "Hey lets go watch the Reidhead girls dive meet!" It was going to be last one that they would be able to compete in. So we did!!

It was the best weather you could hope for, for an Arizona summer morning that is. A little humid but cloud cover and a little breeze.



Maycee had her sunglasses and she was good to go!



This is Emery flying through the air! They both dive great on their 5 dives and had great scores.


If I would have realized we were so close to the end of the meet I would have tried harder to get a picture of Darby in the air. I realized to late. So here she is with Maycee and Josie.


The sunglasses were a hit with Josie too. She liked to wear them upside down.


Abby is always so good at thinking of cute poses!

It was fun to go and watch all the kids compete. Both Darby and Emery qualified for the city meet BUT they were both at the PSR Reunion and missed it. Next time you see either of these girls give them a high five, they are great divers!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

5th of July

So our 4th of July was the pits! I mean we were of coarse proud to be Americans and flew our Country's flag but our "celebration" was lame. I blame myself. We planned to go see fireworks at my Uncle Morris lynn and Aunt Susan's house (we've been in the past, and they have had a good firework show). I don't know what the deal was this year but the fireworks didn't shoot into the air like the normal ones do. This was just like a ground display. And since we were at their house, not the church where they were being launched from, it was the LAMEST show ever!!! Even if we would have been at the church, the show still would have been awful! However, we made up for it the next day.....

Our 5th of July was AWESOME !!! :) Blake had read about this camping place online called Workman's Creek. We decided that we would get up and go check it out. We packed a lunch and after a 2 and half our drive we were there. The beautiful Arizona mountains. Blake had read that this place had several different camp grounds, a creek that is stocked yearly, and a 200 ft. waterfall.... our hopes were high!

When we got there we found the camp grounds. They weren't to big. Each one could hold about 5 or 6 family's (In my mind I was expecting something like Sherwood Forest) There were pretty nice camp sights. They had toilets :)



Maycee loved to be out in nature. After we got out and stretched we set off to find the creek and this waterfall that was on the internet.


Maycee is headed to the creek!



We found this cool little place to take a family picture. Couldn't resist it. it was fun to prop the camera and use the timer. It took a couple of try's. Had a few pictures with my back side instead of my face :)


We came to this little waterfall and hoped this was not what everyone was raving about...


Then we found lots of little waterfalls! This was a cool little place where the rocks were chilled away and it looked like a bunch of little steps for dolls or something..... it was cooler in person.
(if you click on the picture it will enlarge and you can see the steps a little better)



After about a 45min. hike up and back the creek we decided we would get lunch and then see if we could find the fall in the using the car. It wasn't bad to hike in the creek, in fact it was a lot of fun it was just had cause we had to carry Maycee the whole time. She might be a lite weight but she gets heavy fast when your trying to jump up rocks.


Lunch was good. Chicken salad sandwiches :) Made them here at this make-shift table/bench Blake made for us. A plank he found on a rock and a stump. He is so handy :)



During lunch, Maycee found a favorite place. This stump was just her size.



We jumped in the car and took off up the road. Ran into, (not literally), some hikers. They told us the fall was just up the road...... we were getting excited :)

And Then there it was...... Beautiful!




They had a small pond right before the fall and we did see 1 fish in it. Can you see it? Its very camouflaged.... upper left hand corner.... well more middle-left of the picture I guess... kinda green looking..... you can see its shadow in the bottom of the pond, just underneath it.



After admiring this we got back in the car and headed further up the road and found a look out tower. talked to a funny old guy for a while and saw some more amazing sights!

After we were satisfied we headed back down the mountain.

Blake wanted to go see the new dam that was put in at Roosevelt Lake so we went and checked that out and then of coarse had to stop for some fishing. Didn't catch anything so it was more of just hanging out with a fishing pole in hand. We had fun though :)


Even though the water was cool Maycee and I enjoyed it :)




Blake doing his thing....
Us doing ours.....



The ride home was even fun.... Maycee started in on this apple and I was surprised what she could do with those 6 front teeth.



Half way gone!



The whole day was great! It was just fun to get away just us, and for pretty cheap too. Just a tank of gas. We decided we will have to go back to actually go camping with a small group of friends or family..... maybe you will be the lucky ones :)

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Summer time Start

This is the start of my summertime posts. I am sure they will all be lengthy as I will only have a few days here and thee to update and the pictures and memories will continue to accumulate whether I post them or not. So here is my best shot at the first month.....

This post is making up for the last one that didn't have any pictures..... this post has a TON!


On Memorial day we decided to go check the "new-er" Wildlife Zoo that is over in Glendale (far far away). It was a really neat place. We had a few "buy one get one free admission" coupons that we got from our egg carton, so we took us and Brandon + Allee, and Rachel + Angie, and her two boys and Maycee were free! I would highly recommend it to any family. They had several animals that the Pheonix Zoo doesn't and their habitats are much closer to the public so you can actually see the animals!

Here we are with the flamingo's!!!


One thing that made the zoo so enjoyable was watching Maycee get so excited about each animal see saw! She would point and make the cutest "oo" sound. Almost like she was trying to talk to them. It was so fun to watch her! Here she is pointing at the ostrich.



Maycee really got excited to see these things, I couldn't tell you what they are called now but she was thrilled!!! Maybe it was the horns....


looking at more animals.....


Pointing some more.....



And again......



Then we came upon these creatures, we weren't quite sure what they were but they were making strange noises. Allee and I thought they were almost talking and saying things like "feed me!" or "help me, i'm stuck!" We quickly moved on. :)


Here is a close up of one of them. Just look at those teeth!


Since Maycee was so excited about each of the animals she was seeing we were very excited to take her into the petting zoo. However, I think we were a little let down. A s soon as Maycee got close and we put her down it was like all the sudden she was scared of the animals. She didn't really want anything to do with them. I don't know what it was. We'd step back and she would be okay, then get close and she would hold tighter. this was one of the only times she reach out to touch the baby goat by herself.


This was funny. This huge pregnant looking goat came right up to Blake and just starred him down. I was just sure that that goat was going to decide to all the sudden just charge right into Blake. But nothing, just starred. Like it was a contest or something.


Another goat really liked the way Blake's shirt taste. This goat came back several times to nibble on his shirt.


Maycee and Daddy with the white tiger! This Tiger was so close you could almost put your arm through the cage and pet it!


Let me know if anyone is interested I have plenty of coupons left :)

In June my mom turned 50!!!! Im sad to say I did not take out my camera at the event, I was much to busy. Busy singing a song with the other children that we changed words to and had actions. Or busy keeping the cupcakes stoked. They were all made to look like Super man symbols but it stood for Super mom instead. or busy presenting her with a home made super mom cape for her to wear for the evening. Or busy watching a super mom viedo that Angie spent several hours putting together. It included pictures through out her hole life and clips of her children saying things that they loved about her. It was a fabulous night and it turned out really great. (you can see pictures on my mom and dads family blog. Just click on the Mickelson Clan on the side bar)

During the month of June I also had the opportunity to go to NEW YORK!!!! Now before you get to excited, a few things. I was going to visit Angie, who live in Albany, so this is not pictures of the city life and everything. Don't get me wrong it was still a blast but just probably not what you think when you hear somebody say that they went to NY. And second, my battery died the third of seven days I was there :( I was so mad!!! So you only get to see half the trip :(



On the way home from the air port Angie droves us around so we could see a few things. This is where Duane works, Albany Medical Center. Its only about a mile away from where they live.



The first full day we were there, Wednesday, we went to a park. Well actually we went to a new park about everyday. It seems funny to go to so many parks but thats whats their in Albany and they are all really neat and really fun. We found out Maycee does not like to swing. Look closely at her face. its not just this swing. Any swing we put her in she would freak out! We think its just the fear of falling because she doesn't like it when you through her in the air either.



Again the face....

Angie and Tristen liked there turn.


All the cousin's with Aunt Rachel. Rachel was such a help out their with the kids. It evened the playing field. Since Duane worked most the time I was there it was three adults to three kids.


Through out my stay we had several people ask us how old the "twins" where. They were shocked when I told them they were 4 days apart. I had to explain that they were cousins and not twins. Still, to see there faces when I said that-it was pretty funny.

They weather their was funny. Sometimes it would rain and then the clouds would part, the sun would shine and you only knew it had rained because of the puddles. this was Maycee playing in the driveway with the puddles, she loved them!




The next morning Kalvin made eggs, he actually did a really fabulous job. The Ellsworths like to put a little lemon pepper on their eggs. its actually really good, you should try it sometime. (Elder Mickelson, I do apologize if you find this picture offensive. I figured since he was a boy it would be okay. If not then just scroll down really fast!)


Since there was two babies and just the one high chair they took turns. It was realy cute, anytime one was up inside the other would tickle their feet. In both pictures their faces aren't saying much, but they both did get a kick out of it.


Friday, we went to this really neat place called, Indian Latter Farms. Im not quite sure what the name had to do with it but it was a neat place! They had a small petting zoo and all sorts of berries that you could pick. Strawberries, bluberries, cherries, and in the other seasons they had pumkins and apples and a few other things that i'm sure I didn't know about. When we went they said that the bluberries were most plentiful and most ripe. So thats what we paid to pick :) The kids LOVED it. i rather enjoyed myself too.

I showed Maycee once and then she had it all figured out. Pick the fruit and then pick where you want to put it, your mouth or the bucket.....









She even ate the greens ones, like they were candy!



Kalvins ucket was filled and emptied many times. For about the first 15 minutes he would pick about 20 and then eat them all before he picked anymore. I think we finally took it away so that we could get it filled and move on, it was starting to get warm.



This is when we ventured to the goats, it was HILLARIOUS! Maycee was so excited to see them (just like at the zoo) she even got close. They had a candy dispenser filled with corn that you could feed the goats for a quarter. We tried it out and Maycee's reaction was almost beyond wards. She thought their tonuge licking her hands was funny but she was terrified of what they were doing. So she would let out this laugh/scream. I don't know how better to put it. Watch the video at the bottom.


See how she has her head turned away, she is freaking out at this moment.





This is another time we were driving around. In Albany most of their tax dollars go towards schools. They take very much pride in their education their. All of there schools lokk like castles and most of them are actually Academy's not Jr. High or High Schools. This is the picture of the columns that wrap the entire length of this huge building. Anybody wanna take a guess at what this building is for??? It is the Albany State Education Building. I have no idea what it is used for......
I had to get a picture because I studied all about these kind of columns in college..... kinda weird but I thought they were beautiful!


The Hudson!


All in all the trip was a blast and I'm so glad that Maycee and I got to go. I can't wait for Blake to be able to come with us next time!