My one and only...Coach

For those of you who don't know this is Coach.

What you also may not know is that he is a wildly talented, freakishly athletic, endlessly patient, tirelessly hard working, infinitely loving, and an insane smarty pants.

Can you tell I kinda like this guy?

This year has been a tough busy year for Coach and the men of the BYU Men's Volleyball team.

The Cougars got a rocky start to there season by losing their previous coach. After that Rob was brought on as the interim head coach. Seeing that it was august already, Coach and the team didn't have much time to prepare for their quickly approaching season.

This resulted in the last year being a crazy trial by fire whirlwind of 70 hour work weeks, lots of sleepless nights, tons of team dinners, and rob trying to define the kind of coach he wants to be.

It was hard and I am so proud of Rob and the team for their efforts and success this past year finishing #2 in the country with 20-7 record only to be beat by the team who took it all the way to the national championship.

Coach went above and beyond the call of duty to make the BYU men's volleyball team the best they could be.

As many of you know he was up for the permanent head coaching position and did not get the job. Crazy right? How could they not want the guy I just described?

At first I was really upset...then I was pretty pissed off...then I was able to be rational and see that the Lord was just sending us down a different path. And that's OK.

So as of now Rob is the assistant to a wonderful head coach and an amazingly talented team at a university we're still proud to call home.

Coach also decided to go back to school. So a week later he took the GMAT and aced it, the little stinker.

All in all we have no idea where life is taking us now but we're excited for a new adventure...and we couldn't be more grateful for the experience we had this last year and the group of players, families, coaches, and volunteers we had the privilege to know better.

So I guess we'll keep you posted on our next move and in the mean time keep supporting the BYU MVB and my sweet hubby...Coach.

Love you babe...

Tour de Utah: Mountain West Burrito

If I were to tell you there was a great little restaurant in an old abandoned gas station that now shares it's space with a smoke shop would you try it?

Well there is, and you should.

It's called Mountain West Burrito. This place is absolutely delicious. It's fresh, local produce enhances the great flavors of their vegetarian friendly (but not limited to) menu.

I got the crisp taco, which was delightful. I'll tell you what I was eyeing though...the chicken nachos looked amazing and did not disappoint. They were delectable.

The meat was moist and juicy, the tortillas fresh and delish. From what I could tell everyone in our party was extremely satisified.

How good does that look?

Now if all of that wasn't enough, the owner seems like a great guy and delivers awesome customer service, everything is under $10, and you'll be supporting a local business.

How does it get any better? I submit that it does not.

So if you want some solid Mexican food head over to Mountain West Burrito on 1796 North 950 West in Provo Utah (right off state coming down the hill from Orem) and enjoy!

If you check in with face book they'll even give you a free chips and salsa which guess what? They're awesome too...go figure.

I just had to steal these from Ashlie's blog. I love these girlies so much. They have tons of fun playing and dressing up.

It's a blast seeing Etta grow and progress in her play. She's really started to "make believe."

The other night they were taking turns dying, gasping, crying, and reviving each other with their spot on renditions of "flower gleam and glow."

These girls are too much in the best way possible.

We love all our sweet friends.

Tour de Utah: Slab Pizza

Coach and I (and a few choice friends) have started a eating tour of Utah.

This started a while back as a result of gathering to visit one of our recent favorite finds.

Slab Pizza

We started thinking we should pick places around the valley, lesser known, (preferably cheap) rare find kind of joints, try them together and rate them accordingly.

We've been to a few now and I feel like I need to start documenting my thoughts to share with all of you.

So starting with our first stop...Slab Pizza.

How I love thee, let me count the ways.

There's been a lot of hype about Pizzeria 712, and as much as I love the Heirloom Family of Eateries I haven't been blown away by much of anything but the price at 712.

If you know me you know that I love good food and know good food.

I will never steer you wrong.

So the name Slab refers to the way it's served in slabs instead of slices. They only come in one gigantic size which equals a quarter of the pizza. Mmmm...so take a posse and share a variety of flavors amongst the group.

Slab has a diverse menu of classic favorites and funky new combos.

I of coarse was loving me some Veggie/Pepp/Sausage and the Hawaiian (which you can get with SPAM btw, not that I would...yuck) but that's boring so here's what you really need to try...

Rosemary, Potato, + Bacon, Pulled Pork, or maybe some Buffalo Wing Pizza (a favorite among the men).

You won't be sorry.

Their chill atmosphere, fresh local fare, good prices, ever changing specials menu, and quite possibly the best pizza crust I've ever had will get you returning again and again.

They are located at 669 East 800 North in Provo just east of the duck ponds tucked down and around the corner from JDawgs (another cult provo fav).

So check it out and check back for our next stop of the Tour de Utah.

Come join us or post where you think we should go...

Big Blue Eyed Boy

A few weeks ago we were outside enjoying some of the first signs of spring with some neighbors and my uber talented friend Nicole snapped some quick candids of Liam crawling about...

Love this little guy. Thanks for capturing this memory of my boy and his sweet baby blues.

So a couple months ago I realized I had never made ribs for coach. Seeing that it's one of his favorite things, I had to rectify that. So I got straight to work.

Ribs#1: Terrible. The rub was way too salty and I used too much. I tried reducing my braising liquid for sauce but it was too strong and too thin. I was disappointed but coach still ate them so...

Ribs#2: Better. Great in fact. Made my own separate sauce. Minor tweaking needed.

Ribs#3: Delightful. Unbelievably tender but stayed on the bone. Nice char on the outside. Sweet, spicy, sticky sauce. Mmmm...

If you know my husband you know that he thinks I am the best at all things food and has to share that with the world. So he invites everyone over to try "the best ribs ever!"
So nice to be appreciated.

Along with the ribs I made cornbread, coleslaw, and mashed potatoes.

I've made cornbread from scratch a lot but Marie Calendars packaged mix remains my favorite. It's so good! Just don't over cook it and I've even added sour cream for moisture.

For the slaw I made a riff on something I saw on food network. It was cabbage, bacon, and green apples in a lime vinaigrette with Indian inspired spices. Sooo good, and I don't even like slaw.

Mashed potatoes I did my usual gold yukons, skin on, with tons of butter and cream. :)

Oh and of course honey butter, you cannot forget that. I used this local orange blossom honey.

In other news, my friends Stephanie and I started trading sitting every week. I take her two kids from 10-12 and she takes mine from 12-2 or vise versa. If you're are not currently doing this, you should. It's awesome. Just to get some errands done, clean your house, go shopping, or get your hair done. Thanks Steph!

The kids have so much fun together...

They thought they were pretty hilarious with these matching glasses on. They kept putting their heads together and laughing hysterically when their glasses would touch.

This month was also really fantastic because I got to follow coach down to Pepperdine without my kiddies! A huge, huge thank goes out to my MIL Margaret. She stayed here with the kids for the weekend while I enjoyed swimming, sleeping in, nice weather, eating at great restaurants, shopping, uninterrupted volleyball watching, and loads of time with my favorite guy ever and his 15 goofy and lovable little brothers. ;) I had such a fun time with the team but of course took no pictures like a buster!

Oh, well. :) The memories will stay with me in my mind.

March 2011

March was a fun and crazy month. We had lots of volleyball as usual, lots of playing inside wishing it were spring as usual, and lots of partying with friends. We had a fun get a way up at Sundance with some of our favorite people, said goodbye to a good friend that was moving, attended Rob's mission reunion, and went to some fun bday parties. We got to have quite a few dates (a rarity especially during season!), visit the children's museum at gateway, and welcome a new soul into the world!

Here are all the boys at Chris' Bday!

What our lazy mornings look like...(btw that balloon lasted at least two months)

Pics of the beloved boy.

If you're happy and you know it...

Clap your hands...

If you're happy and you know it...

Shout hooray!

And the girl...

Being quite the little poser...

Don't tell but I took these while she was on the potty ;)

That's it. That about sums up March. Thanks for all the fun times.

Thanks sis for watching the kids so we could party it up!

Happy Birthday Kennedy, Chris, Katie, Jeff, Taylor, Cameron, Wes, and all the other beloveds.

Congrats to new momma Aubrey who is my new hero.

So fun!

Mommy Maven:Strolling in Style

Ahhh! Just talking about this and I'm so excited.

So I don't know how many times I've had a conversation about the fact that bugaboo has gotten a little behind the eight ball, no double stroller? I mean come on....and...

Bada boom bada bing, they deliver!

This has been rumored for over a year now and it's finally here.

May I present The Donkey

So get this, it expands from a single stroller with a storage case to a double complete with bassinets and toddler seats and all the other goodies we are accustomed to.

Is this totally awesome or a completely unnecessary nonfunctional doing it simply for the need to be new and different sort of thing?

I'm leaning towards totally awesome.

There are certainly times when I have my double and Etta ends up not wanting to ride in it and I end up pushing my monster Limo everywhere unnecessarily and vise versa.

If any of you know me you know I love LOVE my single bugaboo and though have toyed with the idea of selling it (now that we are a bit larger of a crew) but just can't bring myself to do it.

So I don't know about you but I might be a little to anxious to try this ASAP and not so anxious to find out the price tag.

I'm hearing $1200-2000 range talk...yikes!

I'm hoping I can find another half off killer steal of a deal like I did with my Cameleon.

Anyway, whether I just end up dreaming and drooling or if someday I really take the plunge I'll keep you posted.

For now check it out (I love all the videos they do) and tell me what you think about the donkey....btw donkey? Really? What were they thinking...

Happy Birthday to The Boy

So I'm finally getting my pictures together from Liam's little birthday party with my family.

A couple things I forgot to mention about him are that he loves to do "If you're happy and you know it."

My favorite part is when you say hooray! and his arms shoot straight up and he has the biggest smile on his face.

And his word of the moment is Uh-oh. It's so cute.

So I don't remember why he is so sad on this happy day but this is a classic Liam crying face.

Aunt Jacqueline...

The Boy

The other birthday boy, my big bro James.

So the moment of truth. Will he dive in and devour or pick and prod like our little bug on her first.

Hmmmm...

Oooh, that was good...

Alright lets do this...

Was there ever any question with this boy? Devour...

How do I get this goodness in me...

Does it get any better than this?

I submit that it does not.

Wow, how am I going to finish this?

Almost there, just a couple more bites...

Oh, I'm sorry did you want some too? (This pic totally grosses me out by the way)

There I did it.

Did you see me do it?

So pleased with himself.

Then it was time for presents, which Etta didn't dominate at all, no way.

Silly little bug.

The Fam

Well that's all folks. Our little baby's one.

Ready for number three?

Bipolar Me

I am so excited!

I am following Coach to California this weekend sans my tiny humans!

Is it bad that I'm this excited to ditch them with their Nana?

The whole thing about it is that I'm quite sure the second I leave them I'll feel pangs of regret at not packing them along and miss them horribly.

I just have to remind myself that I've done that many times before and I'm nooot quite ready to do it again yet.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?

Maybe after missing me for a few days they won't sling food at me and pull my hair.

But then what would make me smile at the end of the day?

I am so bummed!

This weekend is The Bijou Market Handmade Event!

It's Fri & Sat 10-8/10-5pm in Provo and I'm missing it!

It is most assuredly going to have more adorable local crafty little nuggets than you can even wrap your head around.

I'm talking clothes, decor, hair accessories, prints, paintings, jewelry, kiddo goodies and more.

Please go for me...