Heebie Jeebies on Mom's Birthday

Have you ever seen one of these? They used to sell them at Arrowhead Mall at a little kiosk labeled, "Heebie Jeebies." The name is very appropriate for what it is used for. It's a scalp massager that you slowly run along your scalp, and it gives you chills from head to toe. I remember having it demonstrated on me once and I have been on the lookout for one ever since. Yesterday was my mom's birthday, so I was at Bed, Bath & Beyond getting her some new cutting knives. While I was walking around the store, I saw a basket full of things called "scalp massagers." I looked a little more closely and noticed that it was my heebie jeebie!!! I was so excited!! To make it even more exciting, they only cost $4 each! I got one for my mom and also one for myself. When my mom opened her gifts last night at dinner, she passed around the heebie jeebie and let everyone try it. You should have seen everyone's funny faces when they had it done to them.


This wasn't Devin's heebie jeebie face. I told him to make the face he makes when he knows he looks hot. This is what I got.

It's Your Day, Don!

Today is my dear mother's birthday. She is a sweet southern gal who lights up any room she walks into. Here is just a short tribute to my Donnie.

Halloween'd Out

I don't know about any of you, but I feel like Halloween was a long event this year. Between the Barry Halloween party last Friday, the Trunk or Treat last Saturday, and the youth Halloween party Wednesday, I was done celebrating by the time this weekend rolled around. Brooklynn was staying with us while her parents were out of town, so we had another bonfire in the backyard last night. While we were outside, our neighbors knocked at our door. They were adorned in costume, and told us they were headed to the neighborhood "boo bash," and that they'd love us to join them. We told them that Sam was already in bed, so thanks but no thanks. After saying goodbye to them and feeling sad that we are officially old people, I noticed Devin getting that special gleam in his eye, the one that means we're about to do something crazy!
The next thing I knew Devin, Brooklynn, and I were running around our little house trying to scrounge up makeshift costumes. We woke Sam from his slumber and slipped his elephant costume over his PJs, strapped him in the stroller, and headed to the community clubhouse. It was downright chilly outside, so we were glad they had hot chocolate at the party (well, those of us who AREN'T on the God-made diet were happy...). We hung out with our neighbors, played some of the games, and even danced for like 5 seconds to Miley Cyrus on the dance floor. Inevitably sleepy Sam was too grumpy to allow us to stay very long, so we went home after an hour or so. I am glad we went. Kudos to our neighbors for getting us out of the house, even if it was my 19th Halloween celebration.

Cute Sam's sleeping position right before we woke him. Are we cruel parents?


Me mid-sentence/practicing my meowing (Devin made me practice), and B being a very enthusiastic 50's girl


Albert and Debra


The partakers of the hot chocolate


Look at his cute little pajamas poking out the bottom

Monday Pictures

I just love this boy.

2 pooey moments in 1 week

Do you ever have a moment where you say in exasperation, 'WHY do we have a dog??!"

I woke up yesterday morning to find a large wet spot on the carpet in the guest bedroom. After accidentally stepping on it and then sniffing my foot (I know, gross) I realized it was dog pee. Sick. I gathered the cleaning materials, came back in, and plopped down on the floor next to the puddle all prepared to clean it. I guess I should have plopped more carefully because I sat right in another gift from Dixie, a huge log of POO! How did I not see this you ask? It happened to be the exact color of our carpet. It's like she planned it.

As for the other poo moment of the week, let's just say it wasn't Sam's diaper I was changing. If you gage our relationship as close, feel free to email me and I'll tell you the story.

So Long!

Dearest Infiniti,
I want you to know that even though your glory days were long gone by the time you became mine, you were still a good car. Even though your radio wouldn't let me know what station I was on, it always kept me guessing. Although your seat recliner stopped working, it always kept my passengers at peak posture. It didn't matter that your seat belts in the back seat didn't work, no one wanted to ride in my car anyway. Remember that one summer I spent all my waitressing earnings on keeping you alive? Good times. Sorry about the 4 accidents I put you through, I wasn't the expert driver I am now. Sorry for that one that took place out in the desert. I would have felt especially bad if you had gone off that cliff. Lucky for you we ended up in that ditch instead. Sorry for stalling at intersections on a weekly basis. I know that made you feel like an idiot. The thing I'm most sorry for though, dear Infiniti, is that after I said farewell to you this afternoon and sold you for parts, I only made $150. But this time I'm not so sorry for you, I'm sorry for me.

Your driver,
All is on

sugar rush

Wedding Weekend

This weekend my older sister, Becca, got married up in Munds Park. Despite a sleep deprived Sam (and parents), it was a great weekend. It is so nice up there, and I am in depressed mode now that I have nothing exciting to look forward to (except Sam's birthday of course...stay tuned!!!)


We were so excited to actually put Sam in a jacket. Here he is sporting an ASU jacket from Brian and Scottee.


Me, my cousin Amber, and Whitney. Amber has the world's most gorgeous hair- this picture does not do it justice.



Brideface. (remember that, Selena?)


cute Abbs. She had me lift her up on the bathroom counter so she could see how pretty she looked all dressed up. She smiled at herself for about 2 full minutes.


My cute family. I just love Devin in a tux.


both Owen and Sam were crying to be held by my mom at the same time. I can't remember how she resolved this...


Beautiful Becca.


Bridesmaids.


My parents and their daughters. Please notice my jacket for my dress. I am so proud of myself because I made it from the bridesmaids' shirt from Selena's wedding!!! I had looked for months for a jacket for this dress, and eventually bought one, but the color was off. So I had the brilliant plan to leave it out in the sun until it faded to the correct color. Yeah, it faded to the totally wrong color. Ergo, my other brilliant plan, make my own from something I already had.


Sam standing by himself!!!


Me and Don.

Sorry, didn't get any pictures of the bride with the groom, mostly because I was holding a squirmy Sam most of the evening. In fact, I held him during the ceremony up in front of everyone while my aunt casually handed me Cheerios to keep him from screaming. That was stressful.

Do you want to hear something sweet? Devin and I were both in the bridal party, so we had Sam up there with us at the head table during the reception. This couple I had never met came up to us and offered to take Sam so we could enjoy our dinner. Wasn't that the most sweet act of service? And Sam actually stayed with them for almost 10 minutes!

Here is the video I made for Becca and Adam.


Ok last item of business:
How you know it's hunting season in Flagstaff:
When you're driving down route 66 and you see this in the lane next to you:


The End.

We Still Do Fun Things (occasionally)

Last night Devin and I had a bonfire in our backyard. Inspired by Selena's latest post about she and Russ doing something fun other than watching a movie, I decided we should make a memory instead of pass the time. I had the genius idea to do the bonfire, Devin had the genius idea to invite Adam and Anya over to enjoy the fun.


Me gathering rocks for our fire ring. Whenever I ask Devin to take a picture of me, he always waits until I am bending over to snap the picture. Isn't that sweet of him?


Look at all the stickers my flip flop collected while I was gathering in the field!



We found an actual tree trunk in one of the fields.


Adam and Anya with their pitchfork skewer. See the resemblance?

11 facts about 11-month-old Samantha

1. Sam is becoming independent. He doesn't like me to feed him anymore; he has to be the one holding the spoon.

2. Sam is picky! (Wonder where he gets that from, DEVIN???)He only likes sugary things (I guess I can thank the thousands of Reese's cups consumed during pregnancy for that trait).

3. Sam is cuddly. He loves his dog, Dixie, and likes to nuzzle his face into her fur.

4. Sam loves his dad. He has a special smile reserved only for Devin.

5. Sam does not sleep through the night. We had about 2 weeks of glory when he was doing so, but those nights are long gone.

6. Sam loves his grandmothers. My mom (Mama D), can make him laugh with little or no effort. Whenever we are over at the Barrys, I am chopped liver and Go Go is the one he wants.

7. Sam loves to be outside. Any foul mood can usually be quelled (sorry, weird word, but oh-so-appropriate) by stepping onto the front porch.

8. Sam takes any and every opportunity to grab himself (sorry...inappropriate? You have no idea how big a part of his personality that is!!!)


9. Sam is spoiled. Devin and I have to rock him until he is sound asleep or he will cry indefinitely (I know, our fault).

10. Sam is a biter. Just this afternoon he locked onto my arm with his teeth. I give him a firm "no," but he doesn't quite get the concept. Any advice is greatly appreciated (and yes, I've heard the "Bite him back" theory).

11. Sam is the world's greatest boy. Didn't you hear? It was on the news last night.

Mormon Perk: Church on TV

"Being a convert to the church"(my famous sentence-starter), I had to give up a few things that I thought I couldn't live without: drinking coffee (I will never forget you, Coffee- Mate amaretto flavored creamer), mall trips after church on Sunday, dressing like a harlot...BUT, all those sacrifices were worth it in order to get to watch church on TV twice a year!!!!! Seriously- conference is great. I always feel so edified and inspired after watching it. I wish Julie B. Beck would speak in conference more. I just think she is great. Wasn't Jeffrey R. Holland's talk so powerful? I was ready to start tracting to the neighbors after his talk.

What else has been going on lately...
This past Wednesday was free day at the Phoenix Zoo!!! Everybody and their mom was aware of this fact; it was ridiculously crowded. As we neared the front of the line to enter the zoo, we were greeted by signs that said "Water main break, No Bathrooms, please plan accordingly." Please plan accordingly??? Doesn't the word plan imply that you had to be aware of the fact beforehand?? Yeah, I thought that was dumb. Plus, our party included 3 pregnant women. Good thing my sister Whitney (not one of the pregnant ones) found a working bathroom. I think the managers at the Phoenix Zoo just posted those signs so that people wouldn't use the bathrooms and run up the water bill. They were trying to save some money on free day.

We had a big group at the zoo (sorry, still talking about this...I don't get out much). Tatum and her cute baby/toddler Lincoln accompanied Sam and me in our truck. Tatum is quite possibly my favorite person in Surprise. She is the most sarcastic girl you will ever meet. I guess I don't have a handle on her sarcasm yet because I was convinced that she was a pathological liar a few times. Whitney was off from work, so she came along with Leah (one of the pregnant ones), and Abbie and Owen (Abbie was the only kid out of the 7 that came that seemed to be aware that we were, in fact, at the zoo). Brenda and Mindy came too. We had a line of 5 strollers. That is funny to me.

SPEAKING OF STROLLERS... Brenda, being the rebel that she is, decided to go off-roading in her stroller (carrying Bastian), and the other 4 stroller-pushers decided to follow. The little hill we were all trying to mount was a lot steeper than we had thought. People besides us were also following Brenda's bad example, trying to cross off-the-sidewalk in our opposite direction. This older lady and her grown daughter were trying to maneuver down the hill in this ridiculous-looking stroller. It looked like a massive popcorn maker. It had a seat in the back that the old grandma lady was pedaling from (yes, it was THAT big of a stroller that it had to be pedalled!!!) As they were going DOWN the hill, Sam and I were making our way UP the hill. All of the sudden, the popcorn stroller pedalled straight into my sweet Sam's stroller, and the old lady at the wheel yelled out, "HEY!!!" as if it were MY fault that she had pedalled her 500 lb. stroller into ME. Don't worry, I didn't apologize (and neither did grandma).

Did you read in this month's Ensign the "blogging guidelines" article?? It said that you will get more blog readers if your entries are brief. Sorry, couldn't follow that one this time. It also said to use opportunites to share the gospel on your blog.

The gospel is true!!!

The End.