FROM PARTIES TO PARTY-POOPERS!!!

March 16th - March 22nd, 2008

We began this week with a fun party over at Brian's parents' house. Brian's brother Robert busted out some old face-mixing equipment and invited a group of friends over to join in the fun. The equipment hooks up to any television set and allows you to take a still shot of one person's face, put it up on the screen, and then take another shot of another person's face and splice them together. It sounds weird, but it is one of the funnest things I've ever seen or done. It takes a bit of setting up, so we don't do it very often. But when we do, we all really enjoy ourselves because it is such a rare and HILARIOUS treat! It's just too bad I didn't take any pictures of some of the spliced faces! (SIDE NOTE: The above picture is of Vaughn laughing at some of the faces that were being put together).

This is a picture of Robert's friends Heather and Christina. They were flipping through some magazines trying to find faces to splice with. It's really fun to also take stills of bodies in magazines and then put your head on them.

Brian was the best at finding ridiculously funny poses of people in magazines. I don't think I've EVER laughed as hard as I did that night. And I am proud to say that Brian was the person everyone wanted to splice faces with. He really made the night fun!

Little Lampateeze took the opportunity that night to do some serious cuddling with Christina. He just went for her from the moment he saw her, and wouldn't be taken away. He doesn't usually do things like that, so it was really precious to see him. The best was when he put his head on Christina's shoulder and just laid there. We were all very jealous!!! It is the treat of a lifetime to be able to cuddle with the Lampateeze!

While we were all face-mixing we had to give the kids something to keep them busy, so Brian's sister Linda busted out some Popsicles. It was the perfect thing! Here's a shot of Vaughn and Kal just staring off into the distance as they enjoyed their Popsicles.

It was cute to have all the kids sitting up at the counter eating together. They were all interested in each other's eating habits. Here Kal and Lorna are seeing how much of their Popsicles are left compared to Vaughn's.

I think this is probably my favorite picture of all time because of the face Lorna is pulling. I don't even know how to describe it! I asked the kids to all smile, and this is what happened! I'm laughing so hard right now I can barely breathe!

Vaughn does not eat Popsicles, he licks them to death. I thought he looked very handsome here.

I just can't get over some of the faces Lorna was pulling. Maybe she was jealous that she wasn't invited to the face-mixing portion of the evening, and felt the need to prove how good of a face she could pull! Vaughn looked like he had been surprised by something. And Kal was the only one who looked normal.

Again, here's Vaughn just licking away while Kal and Lorna are really chowing down. You know how whenever the Dark Ages are depicted on television that people are always gnawing on huge drumsticks of savory meat? Well, that picture came to mind when I saw how Lorna was eating her Popsicle here. ADORABLE!

And then it was Kal's turn to pull a funny face. I think he was pointing out how all the red was gone from the top of his Popsicle, and how much he wished there was more of it! I'll add that Vaughn's tongue looks pretty adorable! It was a really fun night, and we were glad to be able to share it with family and friends!

The next afternoon, Monday the 17th of March, Laura stopped by to say "Hi." I love it when she just stops in for no reason. Actually, there is usually one reason she stops by, and that's to play with Vaughn! I don't blame her. If I had to go a day without seeing him I would probably explode. Here she is showing Vaughn how to take pictures with her cell phone.

Vaughn LOVES to take pictures with Laura's cell phone. Laura knows this, and it's usually the first thing they do together when she comes over. It makes Vaughn very happy, and it usually gets Laura a hug or a kiss from Vaughn! P.S. I LOVE this picture of the two of them!

The next day I got the gardening bug really bad and decided it was time to get the garden set up. My wonderful neighbor had tilled the soil the week before, so it was all ready to go! Here's how the garden area looked before I got working on dividing it up. Vaughn enjoyed just throwing dirt around and getting dirty!

I first divided up the area into sections using old railroad ties, 2 x 4s, large sticks, cinder blocks, and anything else I could find. Then I set up the sprinkler system that my wonderful neighbors had built for me the year before. Have I mentioned that I have WONDERFUL neighbors?!?!

Then I decided I would plant the beets and Swiss chard portion of the garden. I decided to first put down some landscaping fabric to help with controlling the weeds. It was the first time I had attempted this, so it took forever, and I think I could have gone about it in an easier way, but you live and learn I guess! So finally after many hours of work, the garden was divided, the sprinklers set up, and the beets and Swiss chard planted with landscaping fabric to block the weeds. Pretty good for a day's work! I'll mention that Vaughn was very helpful handing me seeds and fabric pins.

That evening we had a church party to celebrate the founding of our Relief Society. It was a very fun evening with a birthday cake made to represent each month of the year. We got to sit at the table that represented our birth month, and at my table was this red velvet cake! (My birthday is in February). YUM! I felt pretty lucky!

This is a yearly event that is held world-wide throughout our church. It is pretty important because the Relief Society is the oldest women's organization, and I think it also has the most members of any women's organization in the world. The Relief Society was founded on March 17, 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois. Initially 18 women were present when it was formed, and now the membership of this organization has hit 5.6 million women in over 170 countries around the world! Pretty impressive, huh?

The motto of the Relief Society is "Charity never faileth." I truly believe in that motto, and have experienced the blessings of having my sisters reach out to me in times of need during the last several years. It is a wonderful organization to be a part of. I instantly have friends of all different ages and backgrounds. I enjoy their friendship, their knowledge and wisdom. I also enjoy our activities together that leave me feeling enriched and uplifted. I am also provided with many opportunities to serve the women around me, and that is my favorite part of all!

During the evening we had a group of women read parts of a skit depicting the history behind the Relief Society, and how it has grown and changed throughout the last 166 years. It was very interesting and very informative. Quotes were taken from women that had lived in each decade or "era" leading up to 2008, and it really helped me to feel connected with the women who have belonged to this organization from it's beginning.

That Friday, March 21st, Brian and I celebrated our 6-year anniversary! It was so weird to realize we have been married for six years. It seems like it has gone by in the blink of an eye. But it also feels like Brian and I have always been together. Brian is the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I am forever grateful that he asked me to marry him. It is the greatest blessing in the world to be married to my best friend. And besides, he's dang good looking too!

Brian's sister Julie was very gracious to watch Vaughn while we went out to eat that evening. It was very short notice, and she jumped at the chance to help us out. Vaughn really enjoyed the time with his Aunt Julie, and didn't really want to go home when we came to pick him up. Can you blame him? I mean, Julie is really fun! And by the way Julie, you look great in this picture!!!

The night of our anniversary we decided to just grab a bit to eat and come home because we both felt really tired. We found out why the next day when Brian got very sick! He had been feeling a little weird by the time we got home from our anniversary dinner, and then by the next morning he was pretty ill. Brian never gets sick, so this was quite unusual for him. Here he is on our couch trying not to throw up! What a way to spend an entire Saturday!

I did my best to try and entertain Vaughn that day, even though I didn't feel great. But at least I felt better than Brian did! We got out Vaughn's train set and tried to come up with some new track designs. This worked for about 2 minutes, and then Vaughn realized his favorite play buddy wasn't joining in the fun. (That would be Brian).

So Vaughn decided to try to entice his daddy to play with him by lying on top of him and patting his face. Brian had a heck of a time keeping the ice pack on his forehead during all of this.

Vaughn tried everything from giving Brian kisses to doing weird dances in order to get Brian off the couch. He just couldn't get anything to work!

Then he resorted to "spazzing" on Brian. This would make even the strongest man's heart melt. Poor Brian kept saying, "Lisa. I can't take it anymore!"

This is where Vaughn finally started to realize that Daddy really wasn't feeling well enough to play. It just about broke my heart, and Brian's too. But eventually Vaughn settled for Mom, and we were able to keep ourselves entertained while Brian tried to rest.

I think I'll end on a positive note with this picture again. Do you see why we love this little guy so much?!? He is just too much to resist! We love you Vaughn!

Love, Lisa