Hotel CaliFarnsworth

On our way up to Brian Head we enrolled Preston in Grandpa Farnsworth's Woodworking 101. Haha. No, we didn't but we did somehow convince him to help Preston make his Pinewood Derby car. The race is right when we get back from our vacation. I am so glad Grandpa helped. He made sure Preston was hands on and really doing the work himself. Preston had the idea for the car, and drew the plans too. You will have to stay tuned to see the finished car.

My favorite is that Grandpa even had safety goggles for Preston! So funny! I love it. Seriuosly though, how cute is he with those glasses on huh? I think he should rock them skiing. JK. This is my favorite machine ever! The drill press! I know how to use it! I really do. When I was at school at BYU I had to make a display case for shells. I had to go to the lab and make it using a drill press! So fun! I was so happy. I think Preston liked using it too. While the boys were with Grandpa in Wood Shop, Chloe was super busy. . . After a full morning at Grandpa's school 'o wood, we had to hit the road. This little Vegas gem was too funny not to post. We spotted this guy right before hopping onto the freeway in Vegas. Chloe was a little unsure of Grandpa's truck. We borrowed it to take to Brian Head. No problem, she just stuck on her safety gear and soon felt "special." The good news is we made it to Brian Head without any problems!! Yay! The Humpherys too!

Derek is OBSESSED with Penguins! He LOVES Club Penguin and cannot seem to get enough of anything even remotely penguin-related. It has been Penguin mania at our house! That is NOT an understatement. Anyway, guess what Derek found out today at school? They are going to start a new science unit. . .all about PENGUINS! Derek is so excited! He is so happy that he coaxed me into baking these guys for his class at school. . .

Oh, and here is something funny. Uncle Alex LOVES penguins too. We all know this. He also likes video games. We all know this too. So every single day when my kids log on to Club Penguin they search for Uncle Alex. I have told them hundreds of times that Uncle Alex doesn't play Club Penguin but they search anyway. So much for trusting their mom!

I got a call from Douglas, while he was working, stating that he had tickets for me to go the Reign game tonight! Wahoo! I love free tickets! And, I have been wanting to go see the new Citizens Bank Arena for awhile now. I found out about an hour and a half before I had to be there though. So instead of going for a girls' night out I took the kiddos. It had been awhile since I had gone to a hockey game. Preston and Chloe had NEVER gone either so it was totally fun. Derek didn't want to go so I took our neighbor Marissa instead! Chloe was surprisingly trying to understand hockey. Preston was stoked that a HUGE fight erupted! He was cheering the loudest during the fight I think!! I was happy to be out of the house enjoying the company of some of my favorite little people! The game was so much fun. Ontario won too! Haha Bakersfield! Thanks honey for the tickets!! When can we go again?

Wedding have been ringing at our house! Jared married Brittany on January 2nd, 2010 in the San Diego temple. Jennilyn and her family were able to come as well as Doug's parents. We were excited to have some family there. This is Doug and I's first wedding hosting. The planning was stressful but the big day was gorgeous. We couldn't have been happier.

We had some drama at the reception though. Here is my account of what happened. The luncheon was held in San Diego at my friend April's house. April did a FABULOUS job of making it super nice and welcoming. Doug left the luncheon before the rest of us so he could go to the church (in Upland) and begin the preparations for the reception. I was the last to leave the luncheon.

Ben and Jennilyn drove the kids and I back to Upland. We decided that Jennilyn would drop me off at the church, so I could offer some assistance, and she would take the kiddos back to my house to rest. Sounded great! As soon as Ben pulled into the parking lot of the church though we saw a fire truck. We began joking that Doug and the Ingrams set off the smoke alarm and how embarrassing that would be. See, before the reception there was a Stake Baptism there. Right when they were cooking and staging the reception. So, when we got there the baptism had maybe just ended. That's why we were thinking it was funny. It wasn't until we rounded the corner that we saw the ambulance. "Oh, no! Some one got hurt at the baptism?," was my immediate thought. I ran out of the car and up to the church. Before I reached the doors, Joseph Knapp asked me if I saw Doug. "No, what happened?" At this point I was still thinking Doug was inside the church. "He's in the ambulance. He just collapsed. We had to call 911," said Joe. WHAT?

Then I ran to the ambulance and sure enough Doug was inside. I couldn't believe it. He was lying on the bed whining and all hunched up. I tried talking to him but he couldn't really talk. Yikes. So off I went to the ER with Doug's parents. They ran some tests and found that Doug had kidney stones. Perfect timing, huh? I stayed with Douglas in the hospital until the reception was starting.

I got to the reception and let Jared and Brittany know what happened. I stood in the line to represent Jared's family for the first 40 minutes of the reception. Then Jared's sisters took over for me and I went back to the hospital. Jennilyn was in charge of my kids and they stayed at the reception the whole time. Doug's mom was back and forth from the church and ER too. Good thing I had family to help! Doug begged to be released so he could go to the reception. he doctor gave him super strong medicine and sent him on his way. Doug and I made it to the reception in time to say goodbye to Jared and Brittany and some of our extended family that went to the reception. Doug was happy he made it there! He was a little medicinally intoxicated though.

All in all, a beautiful wedding that we will never forget! We are so proud of Jared and the choices he has made! We are thrilled to be able to see what he rest of his life will bring! Congratulations Jared and Brittany Cass!

Our new family:
Extended Family at the Temple:

Our year started with a bang! Jennilyn and her fam bam were staying at our house. They came down for Jared's wedding. Jennilyn and I had seriously the funniest experience! SO this is what happened. . .

Brittany's mom decided to make all the "moms" similar dresses for the wedding. She bought the fabric and a dress pattern then had each of us choose a dress from the pattern. She also made all the bridesmaids dresses too. SO she had her hands full and not so much time. Carla had me try on the dress right before Christmas---it was really big. She wasn't sure how much she'd be able to alter it but said she'd try. I got the dress back from her 3 days before the wedding. I tried the dress on and it didn't fit. At all. It looked "silly". Knowing that she didn't have any time to fix it I wondered what I was going to do. Ahh. My friend Dottie came over and I had her look at it (she sews). She LAUGHED when I put it on. It was that bad. It just looked funny. Dottie said she couldn't fix it but she knew who could. She took me over to a Tailor Shop in Rancho. The gal was super nice. I told her I needed the dress on Friday night (New year's Day) because we had to leave so early in the morning on Saturday. Now remember folks, this is New Year's EVE that I'm talking to her and dropping off the dress. And I want it back the next DAY (which is a holiday). She said it wasn't a problem. The dress would be ready at 7pm for me to pick up.

Fast forward to Friday night. Jennilyn and I had gone out to rent a movie and buy some sparkling cider. At about 6pm we were cruising around and near the dress shop. I mentioned we were close to the Tailors so we decided to check the shop and see if the dress was already done. We pull into the Tailor shop parking lot and it is pitch black. Dark. No light on. I start freaking out! There is a notice on the door that reads " Sorry for any inconvenience but our shop is closed today for the holiday!" WHAT?!? They are CLOSED today?? The WHOLE day? The lady just told me YESTERDAY that I could pick up the dress today! I told her it was a holiday and she didn't seem to care. She said her assistant would be there. Looks like the assistant decided to close the shop instead. Now I am SUPER concerned. I don't know her name or have her phone number. I panic and call Dottie like 5 times before she answers. Dottie is down at the beach and doesn't have the Tailor Shop's phone number or the lady's name either. I did NOT have the shop phone number or anything. Jennilyn tries to calm me down and reassure me that the assistnat will probably come back just to give me my dress at 7pm. Fine.

We went home and start googling! Major googling going on. Me at my computer and Jennilyn on her laptop. We get the phone number for the Tailor Shop and leave a message on the machine. Google some more. Got the Tilor Shop's email address. We email the Tailor Shop. Google more. We get the owner's name! Hurray! Goole LOTS more. . .we get the owner's home address---POSSIBLY. It's an address in Rancho anyway. And the owner's name is VERY unusual. No phone number though. Ugh. By this point is it almost 7pm. We head to the shop.

Darkness. But, Jennilyn reminds me we are 8 minutes early. Okay fine. We wait 8 minutes. Longest 8 minutes of my life. We start talking about what I'd say in the morning at the wedding. Everything sounds bad. "Oh, the dress? What dress?" "Oh, I'm sorry. It looked ugly on me so I took it to get altered and never got it back." Yah, can't really explain that one real well. And what would I wear? I didn't have anything turquoise. 7pm on the dot, still no sign of life. Jennilyn says, "Okay let's wait 5 more minutes and then we'll go to her house." Perfect. After about 2 minutes however we get sick of waiting. We head to the house. Now, this is a townhouse. Not a house house. It matters because immediately I start thinking, no guarantee that this is her house. She could have moved. Oh, and it was like 2 blocks away from the shop. Too close, I thought.

Jennilyn looks at me. "You going to go in?" No way! Jennilyn decides to go. What is she going to say? She grabs my pick up ticket, knocks on the door, and marches up to the door. I duck down. i am TERRIFIED. This lady is going to think we are NUTS. And what if it's the wrong house? Door opens, I see the owner (in a bathrobe)! Now I really duck! I am embarrassed. Jennilyn come backs to the car. What happened? What did you say? She tells me she said "Hi. Do you own a Tailor Shop?" --"Yes."---"Oh, good. i have this (hands her the ticket.) My sister is in a wedding and needs that dress. You told her she could pick it up today at 7pm and it's now (checks her watch) 7:04pm. We need that dress."-----"How did you find me?"-----"I googled."-----"(confused)"Uh, meet me at the shop in 5 minutes."------

We are cracking up! What crazy stalkers we are. 4 min late and we are at your door! Watch out! We went back to the dress shop and the dress fit wonderfully. Super cute. A dress that I could wear over and over again! Yay! The owner kept asking us over and over again how we found her. At least she didn't call the cops on us lunatics! Ha ha. We had to explain in detail how we stalked her using google. Jennilyn just kept saying, "Sorry we stalked you. We just had to. I am really good at Google." I think she said that like 4 times. I was laughing so hard!! She asked me if I wanted the extra fabric. It was a whole grocery bag of fabric. No thanks! She ended up cutting it up the middle and remaking the whole dress.

I will post a picture of the dress once I get the wedding pics back from the photographer.

Santa came! He really did! This is Doug's stocking, Shauna's stocking, and Preston's stocking. Doug got a new outfit from Santa and Clif Bars, ZipFizzes, SuDoku, and fun stuff. I got a purse (with bath stuff in it), new boots (furry ones), and SuDoKu! Preston got a skateboard and fun stocking stuffers and a Red Ryder BB gun. This is Derek's stocking. He got a skateboard and a mgic set along with his stocking stuffers! So cool: Here is Chloe's stocking. She got a new Mountain bike with her stocking stuffers: And here is Jared's stocking. He got mugs, hot chocolate, and a cocoamotion with his stocking stuff: Our tree was so pretty and so full of presents! lucky us! Preston's favorite gift was his BB gun for sure. Derek's fav was his skateboard that has wheels! Chloe's favorite gift was her mountain bike and Doug's was his clothes. My fav came from my mom and dad. They got our family a VitaMix blender! Can you say heaven? What a fun mess to clean up! We are so blessed! Merry Christmas!

One of Douglas' coworkers is a single mom. She doesn't have tons of money but still wanted to get her 3 year old son something nice for Christmas. Her father found an old beat up rusty sort of schwinn trike in the trash and pulled it out to keep it. Doug's friend brought it to Doug to see if Doug would be able to restore the bike so she could give it as a present for Christmas. She gave him $20 for paint. Doug went to town on the bike. He stripped it, buffed it out, sanded it down, painted it and then customized it a little. Super cute. The trike turned out awesome! I snapped a couple pictures so we could remember the true meaning of gifts. Giving from the heart. Doug white walled the tires, put pin stripes on and even wrote the child's name on the back of the seat. I love it!

I wish the kids were sitting here with me right now cause then I could type the entire info-mercial for all of you. . .BENDAROOS arrived at our house. Our neighbor Marissa came over and brought the kids a set of BENDAROOS to play with and keep. My kids have begged for these for months! Douglas and I never gave in, we stood our ground. Even when we were told they are "no mess, no glue, just bend and stick anywhere." "They don't break, no stains, no mess to clean up. use them over and over again. The magical wax doesn't wear down." LOL!! The kids had a ball creating with these all day!