Chris + Linzi =

So you might think to yourself, are these two creatures in the newest sci-fi movie? Are they just really bad pictures of ugly kids? Well, I am afraid to admit that they are in fact what "make-my-baby.com" shows will happen if Chris and I reproduce....did you see the teeth on that first one-yikes. We have talked about the many possible genes we would be passing on from bad teeth to near blindness, pigeon toes, deformed thumb nails; but after seeing this, how can we submit the world let alone an innocent child to such injustice?

Black & Decker

So I consider myself somewhat of a clean freak. I mean, I started doing my entire family's laundry when I was like 12 and I can remember a time or two actually asking my older sister if she wanted help cleaning up her room. I know, most would consider this a very odd trait, but I can't help it- I really enjoy doing it. Anyhow, the one chore that I detest is ironing. I just don't see why you should take time to get rid of a few wrinkles when the moment you put them on you will be putting them right back!
Well, because of this hatred I have, I can count on one hand the amount of times I have ironed over the four years we have been married. What lead to all of this was when I was putting away laundry today and saw that a bunch of Chris' dress shirts were missing. I wondered where they were and then I saw this:

Chris had put aside all the ones that needed to be ironed. Gulp. This made me start to feel kind of bad, poor guy. Then I looked closer and saw this:

So okay, maybe this is pretty wrinkled, but nothing that a white coat wouldn't cover right? I decided to suck it up and give it one more chance to win me over. In case you wonder, it didn't. In fact, I didn't enjoy it so much that I might not let Chris wear them because then they would need to be ironed again! From now on they get a little time in the dryer and then right to the hanger!

St. Louis, your Vacation Destination

So, this post is about 2 months late, but I thought better late than never. We always welcome guests into our home, and last month we were lucky enough to have the Utley's come visit us. Emily had a photography workshop nearby, so they turned it into a family vacation. We all had a great time, going to the zoo, losing children at the City Museum (and seeing the coolest little circus kids too), swordfighting on the Wii, seeing the Arch, going through the Botanical Gardens, playing at the Magic House, eating at Fitz's (twice), and watching movies.

It was a very fun time, and hopefully the Utley's will spread the word that we're a fun place to visit. I think the funniest part came a couple of weeks later, though. Paige and Sophie sent us some thank you notes for the trip, and Paige told Linzi that her favorite part of the trip was when they went to the Dollar store and bought her stuffed pig Snuzzies...we both got a laugh out of that (it's so much better in her own words, but I can't quite find the paper right now).

27 years wise........

So Chris loves crazy-fast roller coasters and rides (I on the other hand will ride them but need serious therapy afterwards!). I decided to surprise him with 6-Flags tickets for his birthday since we have one about 25 minutes away and we haven't been to it yet. We didn't end up getting to the park until about 2:00 because he had to do rounds at the hospital first and it was kind of an overcast day but we were going to make the best of the 8 hours that we had. We went on the first roller coaster and all was well. After the second one, Chris mentioned that his stomach was not feeling so hot and he was starting to look green. After the third one, he said we needed to take a break and so we rode the bumper cars. After the 4th one, he threw up in the bushes (always perfectly acceptable right?) but insisted that if we took a break he would be fine. After the 5th one it was apparent that no amount of waiting was going to fix the fact that he is now an old man and can no longer handle fast, twisting, spinning rides so we left.





Needless to say, more flags does not always equal more fun.

(As a side note I have decided that we are never going to allow our teenage children outside of the house after the amount of crazy/half-naked/100% tattooed-pierced/touchy-feely/eating each other's faces ones we say in the short few hours we were there.)

Fun in the sun....

My mom and all her siblings/spouses had planned a cruise to the Mexican Riviera last fall and a few weeks ago my aunt found out that she was not going to be able to make it. I, of course, was more than happy to squeeze in and take her place. My work was gracious enough to allow me to start work a week later, so I headed to meet my family aboard a big ship.

Kylee and I polished off 3 ice cream cones just waiting

for the ship to take off

We went to Lover's Beach, got some serious sun,

snorkeled in Cabo

We visited the Predator set in the jungle in Puerto Vallarta

We also visited the zoo which was unlike any American zoo where they tell you not to touch or feed or hardly look at the animals! The animals were barely in cages and you could buy bags of peanuts and vegis and fruit to feed them. We got really up close and personal....it was almost scary how close we got to the lions and tigers if you ask me....Kylee and I jumped in fear a few times.

We enjoyed the beautiful sunsets....and crazy ginormous waves

and we ate a lot....really a lot. I tried all sorts of new food like lamb and duck and beef wellington. No wonder they say the average weight gain for a cruise is 6 pounds! On our second to last night on the ship, my cute Grandpa Stoddard told us how 63 years ago on that day he had asked my grandma to marry him. The waiters even surprised them with a cake and sang them "let me call you sweetheart". I am grateful for such a wonderful example of enduring love. It was really fun to hang out with my family and makes me think that living a little bit closer to them wouldn't be so bad!

Dryer malfunction vs mother nature.....

So for the last few weeks our dryer has just not been functioning well and I was at a loss for why. I checked the lint pocket and the dryer connection and everything was fine. It was heating up but it just wasn't drying the clothes like it usually does. Yesterday I went outside to shake a rug and happened to look over and saw that there was all this stuff hanging out of a vent looking thing (I am sure this is the technical term for it!) and thought, perhaps that is the dryer outlet.

I yelled to Chris to come and investigate (I didn't want to be attacked by a bird after all) and this is what we found.....

Needless to say, the dryer is working really well today and a sad little bird is now homeless.