Fun With Pop-Pop and Charlie

The 1st Saturday of every month, my Pop (who is Pres. of the Palm Springs Cruisin' Association) pretty much single-handedly puts on a Car Show in Palm Springs. They get about 100 Old Hot Rods, Corvettes, Fire Engines, Muscle Cars, whatever, that come out each time so its a substantial Show. There are vendors, Raffles (money and prizes), Music (sometimes Live), a Coloring Contest for the kids and at the end they give awards to the owners of the cars who win specific categories. All the while my Dad is on the microphone, MCing and making sure everyone is having a good time. We decided to go to this month's show to support Pop and get in some quality Family time. Oh, I forgot to mention, my Dad has a 55 Chevy-it's got all its original parts-pretty cool! We thought we'd take some pics of Anso behind the wheel. She LOVED it of course! I wish I had a better picture of the whole car-you can kinda get an idea of what it looks like at least. My Dad got her the shirt she's wearing-it says "Grandpa's Little Sweet Rodder" (for STreet Rods, in case you didn't know)

Ansofie loves her Pop-Pop! :)

We always have a Fun time when we go out to the Desert. Too bad it's so incredibly HOT or else we might move back there! Anyway...my parents have a Bassett Hound named Charlie and we thought Anso might be scared of him but it was actually quite the opposite! She chased after him (I mean crawled) everywhere he went, tugging at his big, floppy ears and his quick, wagging tail. She had a BLAST-it's pretty funny cause when she's excited she flaps her arms like she's gonna fly away!

I felt so bad for Charlie-he was such a good sport though. I know he liked the attention at first but, then he finally had had enough! He didn't come around our little Monkey too much more after that!!

Ready For Her Close-Up Mr. DeVille

WAY back in the beginning of September (when Ansofie was 7 1/2 months), my friend Tracy was so sweet to do a photo shoot of my little monkey. She is a really good photographer (I personally think), plus, she has the most AWESOME camera-ever!!! So, for these reasons, we happen to capture some great shots! :)

The picture above Tracy photo-shopped to look "antiquey" and also made her blue eyes stand out. I LOVE it!!!

She snapped a few of us playing...

This next one is my Favorite...for a couple reasons...1. Because it's soooo CUTE and 2. I hope one day she will be a Dancer and this reminds me of a Ballerina :)

There were three other shots that turned out absolutely ADORABLE so I had to do something with them. Now, I'm not a "crafty" person-whatsoever-but for some reason I had this idea in my head of how to display these pictures. So, with some help from Tracy and then from our Ward-Meredith and Megan Fry (whose garage is Scrapbook Heaven) and even Matthew!, I was shocked that we actually were able to create this mental image I envisioned!! SO EXCITING!!! I hung it above her bed and had to take a picture to Post on our Blog-I know, I'm a Dork! Hey, it was a proud moment for me :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Belated Halloween that is! Yes, I know it is now almost Thanksgiving but, like I said, I've been a Major Slacker and have been needing to post for quite some time, and, well, I just can't not post Anso's 1st Halloween! Halloween is FUN again-you know, now that we have a kid, the excitement of the holiday comes alive in a whole new light! We get to dress her up (even though it wasn't what we really wanted her to be-our moms threw a fit when we told them we found the CUTEST Whoopie Cushion costume! haha), we can all dress up so that we "go together" (even though we were lame and didn't do it b/c we weren't really going anywhere anyway) and, well, Trick-or-Treating of course, however we'll start that up next year probably! Anyway, it really was a fun day, but I bet next year will be better! ;)

We started celebrating the season with a trip to a Pumpkin Patch w/ my Mom and little brothers, Shane and Dylan. There were some great photo opps in the hay amongst all the pumpkins. So here's our Fall Family shot...

(If anyone could help me out and teach me how to turn the pictures I would greatly appreciate it-thanks!)

This is Anso's Pre-Halloween outfit her Aunt Lizzie got for her-it was so cute, I had to put her in it as much as possible! Of course not always sporting the kitty ears, though :)

Our little Ansofie was a Tulip Fairy. Basically, it was a hot pink tulip upside-down cause her headband had a stem on top and there was a green leaf base around her collar, plus she had wings and some adorable green curl toe shoes. It was a really cute costume, but just a little big on her. So, like I said was saying, Matt & I were pretty lame and didn't dress up cause we didn't have BIG plans. But what could we have been to match her? I told Matt it would have been AWESOME to see him dress as a Fairy in tights and a tutu with wings-haha :) Oh well, maybe next year! Here is our weak attempt.

Now this is what I'm talking about-dressing up so you "go together" with your child. Matt's brother, Jed & his wife, Gwen ALWAYS match Riley's costume (well, for all 3 Halloween's of his life so far at least). Last year he wanted to be the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland and he wanted his mommy to be Alice and his dad to be The Door (remember the talking door Alice had to go through?) Anyway, Gwen found her and Riley's costumes and made Jed's-it was hilarious! This year he wanted to be Buzz Lightyear, so his dad was Woody and his mom, Jessie of course. Gwen totally made her and Jed's costumes-and they were SOOOOOO GOOD!!! Check them out...

I guess this picture doesn't really do them justice. It's hard to see the detail. She totally drew the stripes on Jed's shirt and even put a pull string in his back! And her hair is a wig of red yarn with a braid in the back-yep, she made! So CUTE!!! She is really talented!

Ok, I have one last picture I just have to include. It isn't really Halloweenie, but it's SCAREY, so it goes along with the holiday! It's my brother, Shane's, new Hair-Do, or should I say, Hair-DON'T?!!!!

HAHAHA I LOVE this picture cause it seems like Anso is wondering the question we all are..."What was he thinking???" hahaha

Well, I hope you're neck isn't kinked from looking at all our sideways pictures! Seriously, if ANYONE has some tips..."for the LOVE"!!!

Halloween at Disneyland-YAY!

The week before Halloween my brother-in-law, Craig, sister-in-law, Liz, and nephew, Roman came here to Cali on a spontaneous visit. So, of course we had to make a trip over to Disneyland with all the gang! Especially because it is Halloween time-LOVE IT! Here are a few pics from the day. Oh, and if you're wondering if we had fun...YOU KNOW IT!!! :)

SLACKER CHELSIE

Um, yeah, I know it's been awhile since I last posted...and I really actually have a few things I could post...but see, um, I finally discovered FACEBOOK, and uh, yeah...there's not much more time for anything else now...

No seriously, I will be updating this little, old Blog here in the next couple days...I PROMISE! :)

Don't Forget to Tune In!

It's almost time for the Air Date of the Feud!!! This coming Monday the 22nd-so exciting!! :)

If you are in CA-the show is on at 6pm on KCAL 9. It should be channel 9 but, in the desert where my parents are it KCAL is 16 so, you might want to check your guide.

And if you're in UT-it is actually on at 10am on KUCW. If you have Comcast, it is channel 15 or 656 in HD. The listing says its Judge Maria Lopez but it is really Family Feud. There's another one on right after it, but the one at 10 is the new episode. I'm not sure what channel it is for other cable providers, but it definitely is the CW network.

Now remember, Monday is the first day we are on, and then we'll be on every day that week as well! But, Monday is a really good one to watch (hint hint)-so try not to miss it!!!

We Know a Gold Medalist!! How COOL is that?!

Our friend, Rich Lambourne, who is actually our sister-in-law Gwen's brother, was on the Olympic Men's Volleyball team. He played for BYU back in the day, and since played all over Europe, playing in Poland this past year. He's like s SuperStar over there-kids come up to him for his autograph! Just before the Olympics, the U.S. team beat Brazil for the World Cup-pretty cool! Rich plays a position called Libero, who is the player with the different color jersey. He was named Best Libero in the World for the past two years! VERY COOL!! Anyway, now he has an Olympic Gold Medal-that is the COOLEST of all!!!

I don't know if you heard the tragic story of the Olympic Coach whose In-laws were attacked and brutally stabbed multiple times by some CRAZY Chinese man? This was Rich's Coach! And this happened right after the Opening Ceremonies, while they were sight-seeing-and his wife witnessed the whole thing!! The dad died and the mom was in critical condition. She is now doing better, but, what a horrific thing to happen during such a thrilling time & event. So sad.

Well, the guys had been practicing for 4 years-they came to win the Gold, and that's exactly what they did! It was AMAZING!! And so emotional for everyone!!! Matt's bro, Jed, & his wife, Gwen, went to Beijing with some of her family to support Rich. They had the most incredible time! They had an Open House for Rich last week, so we went to see him & his Gold medal! It was sooo AWESOME! It has white Jade on the back-so pretty! And that sucker's heavy! Since being home, he has been on Oprah and the Bonnie Hunt show. There are lots of other perks that come along with winning Gold as well-of course!!

It's pretty amazing to be able to see a Gold Medal in person, and even more amazing to actually know an Olympic Gold Medalist! Seriously, how COOL is that?!!! Congrats Rich, you deserve it!

Our Family is Growing!

Man, how do you turn a picture??!! This picture
is soooo cute, but even better when you don't have to tilt your head to look at it! Geese!!

Well, I have been meaning to update, but, you know how that goes! During August we FINALLY made a trip up to Utah for our newest nephew, Connor's, Blessing Day! We are so excited about this sweet little boy to join our family! Brittany & Jonathan are such good parents-as I always knew they would be! We had an amazing time, but of course, our time there was just not nearly enough! :(

Here is a pic of the happy fam!

We definitely made the most of our short time-here are some of the other things we did in UT...

We went to our friends', Debbie & Steve's house to visit, and our other friends Rachel, Mike & "Mikey Michael" came over! Matt's sis, Liz, came by with our nephew, Roman (curly blond), and we had our niece, Jenna, with us. The kids had a BLAST in their "PlayLand" basement, poor Deb, she definitely had a MAJOR project cleaning that whole area-sorry Girl! Matt & I really enjoyed hanging with our Buds-we miss them! :(

We had a BBQ at our Aunt Cyndy and cousin Nikki's after the Blessing on Sunday. Anso and I jumped on the tramp with ALL the kids-my bro Dylan, Jenna, and my cousin's kids Wyatt & Shayley. We had so much fun-Anso LOVED the tramp! :) After dinner, we visited our grandparents' and Uncle Verdon's grave. Then we went back to the house to roast marshmellows for s'mores over their fire pit-umm yummy s'mores!!!

Anso got to spend some much needed "quality time" getting to know her cute uncles, Craig & Breeze, a little better. And, of course, getting cuddled by her Auntie Liz-whom we owe all her ADORABLE style to (Liz has already completely spoiled her in her 8 months of life!)

Yes, it was a good trip indeed! Pretty much EVERY trip to Utah is!! We just can't wait to get back there to visit our beloved Family & Friends whom we miss dearly!!!

Here's one more shot of the McMullin clan, w/ spouses & kids (minus Shane, who really wished he could have been there-stupid work)- just to show that our Family is growing and we are LOVING IT! :) xoxoxo

Two "TEEFERS"

Anso wanted to show you all her first two teeth! Unfortunately, they haven't seemed to grow since they sprouted-almost a month ago!

Happy Pioneer Day to Us!!!

We knew it was Good Karma when we were set to come film Family Fued on July 24th-Pioneer Day!!! We had the most AMAZING experience that day. We arrived at the Studio in Hollywood for our 9:25 check-in all "spiffied out" in our coordinating purples. There were about 7 other families. They had us each come on stage to play a "mock game" where we had to tell something about ourselves and be SUPER EXCTED-basically to see how we looked on camera. We were chosen to be the first family to compete against the champions from last time. It was a family of all black women and somehow, by the skin of our teeth, WE BEAT THEM!!! Then we played Fast Money, and...sorry, they say we can't reveal how we did! If you win, you can come back up to 5 times. Our air date is Sept 22nd which is a Monday and, well, let's just say we will be on EVERY DAY THAT WEEK!!! :) That day was definitely "OUR DAY"! There was no stopping us! I feel so bad for some of the families that came all the way down and didn't get to be on that day (they get to come back though)! So, you'll have to watch to see just how INCREDIBLE our day was!!! We feel so blessed-SOMEONE was definitely watching out for us! This is our Silly, Super-Cheesy Pose! I hope I don't look like too much of a DORK on National Television!! HA HA
Mary Ann (my mother-in-law) was our Lead person-she signed us up for this! And that is Matt's brother, Jed and his wife, Gwen.
They put us at the same table we had for Auditions-another stroke of Good Karma!!!
OH MY GOSH-we were all SOOOO NERVOUS!!! I went to the bathroom 5 times before we actually got started around noon! HA HA
When we first walked out onto the set, it was SO CRAZY how SMALL it was-the camera angles and lighting trick us into thinking it's so big and there are so many people in the audience. There were so few seats that they actually changed out the audience members 3 times! They were people outside waiting in line to come watch! And then one back section were all the Families competing! John O'Hurley (the Host-Pederman, Elaine's boss on Seinfeld) was really nice! He wears a girdle-haha! Everyone that worked on the set was SOOO NICE-they all were truly rooting for us!! They definitely made that day so wonderful for us...and, of course, so did winning some money! Oops, wait, I mean, you'll just have to watch to find out!!!

Mama's Gone Back to Work

Ansofie with her Nana!

Yes, it's true...I am a "Working Girl" once again-SUCKY!!! What's even SUCKIER is that I am working at a RESTAURANT! And SERVING at that!! No, but seriously, I DEFINITELY DID NOT want to go back to Managing-I just want to go in, make my money, and get out-not deal with the extra hours, the stress and all that, you know?! I really like this place though. It's called Gulfstream. It is different than ANY restaurant I've been at. Its on PCH, close by Fashion Island, right before Corona Del Mar-so it's in a "ritzy" area. It's really nice, formal but kinda relaxed, awesome patio, yummy food (seafood, salads, sandwiches, steaks), expensive-it's PERFECT! Except, I am stuck working lunches for a little while (low man on the totem pole)-so, it's hard because Matt's at work too during the day. Lucky for us, his Mom can help us out and watch Anso when we need her-we feel so blessed!!! She is THE BEST!!! As much as it's absolutely KILLED me to have to leave her...I know she is in good hands. Gotta do what we gotta do, right?!

Our Baby isn't a Baby anymore!

(Uh, sorry, can't figure out how to turn the picture-oopsie, haha)

WOW-it's crazy, Anso is 7 months now! Time flies!! Matt & I were just talking about how she has changed so much within the last couple months. Her little personality is really coming out-she's smiling so big and laughing so much...and we are enjoying every minute of it! :) She is sittting up now on her own, still a little shakey though, and we think she might start crawling soon because she gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth-EXCITING! But wait, what am excited for? Our place is NOT EVEN Baby-Proofed...whatsoever!!! We better get on it! Oh, plus our little Muchkin is FINALLY breaking a couple teeth-on the bottom! Can't wait, it's totally gonna change her look, huh?! :)

Ansofie "Jibber-Jabbering" at 15 weeks

I DID IT...I FINALLY DID IT!!!

After much coersion and coaxing, I decided it was time to give in and set up a blog for our growing, little family already. No really, I AM glad to be doing this, because, to be perfectly honest, I absolutely LOVE to read up on all of my friends' blogs! They are sooooo adorable AND interesting, and what a great way to keep in touch w/ everyone! Seriously, I have been HORRIBLE about calling all of you, I know I have. It's been REALLY tough...I barely even call my mom! It's not that Anso is so hard to handle, it's just, I haven't figured out how to NOT spoil her (mainly putting her down so I can actually get things done)! Yes, our little Munchkin definitely "Rules the Roost". She's just so darn cute, we can't help it! I mean, how do you resist that face? (see above...haha)