Wow What a Christmas!

The Lakin's were definitely spoiled this year! Sasha now has more toys than a two year old knows what to do with, but I guess that happens when your birthday and Christmas are in the same month. I needed a major wardrobe refresh, and boy did I get one! And Josh and I have been hanging out watching a lot of The Big Bang Theory and laughing our guts out. If you have never seen this show I highly recommend it, it's hilarious!

We are finally in the homestretch for Josh's exams . . . he plans to take the 4th and final test in mid January. I'd start a countdown but I don't want to jinx it. This last test is the tax and law section and a lot of it is what he does on a daily basis, so he should be good. The practice exams have been going well so far. He's a smarty pants and I have no doubt he will pass this with flying colors and NO RETAKES! Then he'll be free! Free to hang out with me and Sasha, to work out, ski, play, relax and finally go back to being a normal guy. We can't wait!

It will be nice to have an easy work week and get some good family play time in. Maybe Sasha will get a chance to try out those ski's that santa brought her. :)

Catching up

Okay wow . . . I guess there has been a lot that has gone on since my last post. I cooked my first Thanksgiving turkey. I was nervous, but it turned out pretty great I think! I can see why people get nervous about cooking the turkey because if it doesn't turn out then it kind of defeats the whole purpose of Thanksgiving day, know what I mean? But I had no reason to worry. My lovely assistant Mandi was an awesome helper and we made a kick a$$ thanksgiving dinner, if I do say so myself!

Josh PASSED the audit exam!!!! We are hoping that he only has one test left to take in January. And if he passes that one then he is free and clear and officially a CPA! Wahoo!!! We are still awaiting the results of his Financial exam, but hope to have those back sometime this month. He has worked so hard for the past year to get these exams done and out of the way. He will be so glad to get back to having a life.

Work is going great. I am really grateful for my job. I have kicked butt this year and met my quota (yay me!) and I really like the team I am on. I still miss some of my FIS friends, but thanks to email and FB we keep in touch.

I am very grateful for my in-laws. Not only is Sasha lucky enough to spend three days a week with her Grandma Lilly, she is totally spoiled rotten. Lilly took us to Disney on Ice and though I was worried Sasha wouldn't sit through it all, she actually loved it! We had fun riding Trax then a yummy lunch at Little America with Grandpa Howard. Sasha loves it when her Grandpa plays the banjo. She will listen and dance for an hour while Howard plays and sings to her. I think he loves it just as much as she does!

I can't believe almost another year has gone by! Christmas is right around the corner and is going to be here before I know it. I have lots of work to do, that's for sure.

Continuing the tradition . . .

This last Saturday we had a much needed family day. We started off the day with our family pictures (those to come soon). Typically Josh would come have had to come back home and continue studying. Instead he decided that we all needed a family day and I couldn't have agreed more! We took a drive up to Deer Valley so Josh could get his season passes for the year. On a whim he decided that I was getting a pass this year too! I'm not much of a skier, I usually go about once a year, but if it means spending time with Josh then I'll take it!
They opened a new St. Regis hotel up at Deer Valley. In order to get up to the rooms you have take this thing called a Funicular up the hillside. It was an absolutely gorgeous day so we decided to ride it up and down a few times. Sasha loved it and it was pretty fun.

We went to lunch at Hapa Grill (very good!) and as we were driving there we happened past a KinderSport, and what do you think they had sitting outside the shop? Ski's for kids! I kid you not, you would have thought that Josh was just handed the keys to a free Ferari he was so happy. We barely made it through lunch and he was out the door with Sasha to get her fitted for some ski's. They had some her size and we found some boots, too. Josh is so excited to be able to teach her to ski this year. He started learning when he was about three or four and he has been dying to get Sasha started since the day we found out I was pregnant! So I'll give you three guesses as to what the Lakin's will be up to this winter . . . if it ever snows, that is. :)

Just for fun . . .

I decided to snap a picture before we left for church today, even though we're getting family pictures done next weekend, I just wanted to give it a shot. And I actually got a decent one, yay!

I love my crazy life. Just thought you all should know. :)

Crash

This is a warning to you all . . . I want you to back up your computers NOW! However you choose to do it doesn't matter, just do it! My laptop crashed about a week ago and I have lost every picture I have taken since January. I am so sad! Many of them are on my blog and some on FB, but there are many that are not. The worst part about it is that I love to look back through them periodically and see how much our lives have changed and we have grown. So do it now- go back up all your pictures, music, files, everything!!!
Though I'm sure my loss is nothing compared to the families that lost their homes to the fires in Herriman. I can't even imagine what it would be like to have everything you own completely destroyed. My heart goes out to those people, and anyone else who loses things to fire.

So life . . . life is good. Yes, Josh is still studying like a mad man. Is he studying too hard? Is he over analyzing? Maybe. But he is doing what he feels he has to do to prepare. So we're stickin by him!

Sasha is great! It seems like she learns a new word every day. Her current list is: shoes, more (her favorite) cheese, sorry, uh-oh, mommy, maw (Grandma), Da (dad), oh pretty, see, juice, where, kitty, and the list goes on. She no longer walks anywhere, she pretty much runs wherever she goes. She is getting way too big, way too fast. We thought for a minute there that we were going to have to get a toddler bed, but apparently falling out of the crib and landing flat on her back once was enough to cure her of wanting to crawl out. Whew. Cause I was not ready for the step to the toddler bed. Not even close.

I've already started planning her birthday party. I'm so excited!!! It's going to be a lot of fun. I'll be taking lots of pictures (and backing them up immediately!).

My work is good. I like my job and the people that I work with. The best thing has been not having to travel nearly as much as I used to. I don't mind doing some travel but I always miss my family like crazy. But I've been doing really well this year and though I still feel a little behind the curve, I'm catching up pretty quick.

So that is our update for now . . . :)

Labor Day

I suppose we did exactly what you are supposed to do on Labor Day- NOT Labor . . . right? Every year we head up to Park City with Josh's parents and go to the Park City Showcase of Homes. It's a fun tradition and always a relaxing weekend. This time we mixed it up a bit . . . I went to Swiss Days Saturday morning and Pam and Mcartny joined us for part of the weekend. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to do it again next year.
My little cheeseball . . . and her daddy.

Seriously, she's a total cheeseball!

With her cute cousin

At the Park Silly Market, getting her leg painted . . . (Dad's not the best photographer. Could have gotten a better shot of the cute flowers on her leg)

All dressed up for a night on the town . . .

Got her this cute hat at Swiss Days. She wore it for about half an hour, which is 20 minutes longer than she wears anything else on her head. :)

Super Saturday

So I am the lucky girl in charge of my ward's Super Saturday next month. EEK! Anyway, here are some pics of the projects we are going to be doing . . . I'm pretty excited about them.
Washer Necklaces

Christmas Countdown

Picture Plate

CTR Blocks

Cake Stand

Iron Rod

There are a few more fun things we are going to do like some handmade cards, a caramel apple class and some really cute Witch blocks, as well as a YW Values block and some cute magnets that either say "Princess: Daughter of a Heavenly King" or "Modest is Hottest"

If anyone wants to join us or order some kits just let me know!

Cherry Hill

Saturday night was family date night at Cherry Hill. We took Sasha mini-golfing for her first official time. Let's just say it's a good thing kids under 4 are free cause I don't know if you can really count what she did as golfing. But she sure had a good time!

She usually loves to ride little rides like this but for some reason this little carousel scared her, as did the rocket ship. It was really strange . . .

This little horse she loved . . . why? Because it didn't work and wouldn't move, but she had a ball sitting on it!

It was a fun little date night and very much needed . . .

An update on Josh . . . the poor guy! He is studying very hard for exam #3. We still don't know if he passed #2 but should get those results soon. He is scheduled to take #3 the first week in October. We'll keep you posted!

Summer fun

Just a few random pics from the last week or so . . .
Chasing Koby the dog at Madi's house . . .
Playin in the pool with Madi and Mason
Getting ready for the day . . . got to start it out with a little music!

Being a good girl in the cart at Target (completely rare occasion!)

Eating popsicles on the porch with mom.

This summer has gone by way too fast!!!

So nice . . .

Any bets on how long my den/scrapbook room will stay this neat and organized?

When we put in the new floors everything got packed up and shoved into the dining room. Once the floors were done we re-sorted the boxes and piles to their respective spaces but haven't taken the time to really "Put things away." Well, given that my internet was not working and I had to wait at home most of the day for the Comcast guy to come I got bored. So this is what I did . . .

This is how it started:





And how it ended:


I feel so much better now!

The Lost and Found Vacation

Why are vacations almost never long enough? Darn work, makes you come back to reality much sooner than you want to!!!

Overall the trip was wonderful and very much needed! Poor Josh is still studying his heart out so we see him like twice a week and at bedtime. No bueno! So Hawaii came at a good time and was very relaxing! But not without a few bumps in the road . . .

We left on a Saturday morning. At the airport our initial flight to Portland was cancelled due to a mechanical problem with the plane (eek!) so we ended up getting moved to the direct flight from SLC to Honolulu. Oh darn. :S Delta was also nice enough to give us some vouchers for food at the airport since we would now have to wait a couple of extra hours. So of course we hit the Cinnabon! (Is it smart to eat well and exercise for two months before going on vacation only to sit down and have a 5,000 calorie cinnamon roll on your first day? Hmmm, maybe not but it was GOOD!)

We spent the first four days on Maui in Wailea. Mandi and Colin came in on Sunday so we didn't meet up with them until Monday. So Sunday was a very relaxing day for us. Our hotel was great and even had a pool just for the kids with slides and things to climb and play on. Sasha loved it!!!

Tuesday we did the Road to Hana with Colin and Mandi. It was a beautiful drive but don't do it without the dramamine. I'm serious! I have been car sick one other time in my life and I'm somewhat proud of that fact, but this trip marked #2

We went through the Lava Tube that is on some guys property. It's a really cool cave-like structure that was formed naturally by the lava. Of course we took a few pictures . . The walls of the cave looked like there was melted chocolate running down them. Mmmmm . . . chocolate . . . .

Despite the look on her face in this picture, Sasha did have fun walking through the dark and playing with the flashlights.

The landowner had also created a maze next to the tube. It was kind of fun finding our way through . . . we only hit a few dead ends. :)

Josh and Sasha looking Oh So Cool in their sunglasses

For some reason when I squat to take a picture of Sasha she thinks she needs to squat too. It's kind of funny. But I love this face!

CHEESE!

Chocolate cake makeup, courtesy of Aunty Sparkle (aka Mandi)

Sasha in her cute little Hawaiin dress. I couldn't get her to turn around and look at me. Oh well.

This was Tuesday morning . . . we stopped at McD's to get breakfast before we hit the Road to Hana. I think she's digging for gold . . . that or she didn't like the smell of Josh's sausage breakfast. (Not sure why this is underlined, or in a different color.)

Some nice scenery on the Road to Hana

This was a 'hale' near the Seven Sacred Pools we stopped at.

Oh baby girl . . .

On Wednesday we hopped over to Kauai to finish out the week. That was a small adventure in itself. On Monday Mandi and I did a little shopping and I had her hold my credit cards and ID since I didn't have any pockets or a purse. Well I remembered to get the credit cards out, but didn't grab my ID! So when we were getting ready to leave at 4 am Wednesday morning I started to panic because I couldn't find my license! I didn't there was any way I was going to make it on the plane! Mandi didn't have cell service in Hawaii and Colin's phone was turned off. So I made a frantic phone call to Rachel back in Utah who, fortunately, at least remembered the name of the hotel Mandi and Colin were at. I felt horrible waking them up at 5:45 am on their vacation, but thankfully Mandi did have my license! The only problem here was that they were about 30 minutes away and our flight was boarding in ten minutes! We explained our dilemma to the girl who checked us in and she told me that I could get through security without my ID but with some additional screening. Huh? I've been traveling a lot for 6 years and NEVER seen anyone get through without ID. I figure it was because we were only changing islands, but they did let me through (Thanks to my photo debit card from America First and my trusty Costco card!). So I ended up having Mandi Fedex my license to me because I knew there was no way the would let me fly back to the mainland with no ID. So it all worked out.

At Duke's for my birthday dinner. We had one of the best desserts ever! It is definitely on my top 5 favorite desserts . . . it was creme brulee in half a hollowed out pineapple with pineapple chunks in it . . . I should have taken a picture, it was so cool looking and it tasted so yummy! I'm not normally a huge creme brulee fan, but this one was delish!

Sunglasses are always good for a few minutes of entertainment . . .

This picture almost looks like we're at that revolving restaurant in Seattle and everything is moving except for me. But really we were sitting still. I just look cuter in this one than the second one that Josh took of me. :)

"Give me that camera! Stop taking a gazillion pictures of me mom!!!"

A gorgeous light house near Lihue on Kauai. I'm thinking of having this one blown up to hang on the wall in my office. We were too late in the afternoon to actually go down to the lighthouse, but we still got a pretty good view.
Playing in a cave near Hanalei Bay
On the beach at Hanalei Bay . . .

The first day Sasha was not a big fan of the waves, but by the time we hit the beach in Kauai she loved them!!! Good thing she has a big, strong daddy to keep her safe in the water.

Still at Hanalei . . .

Or I could blow this one up for my office . . . too many pretty pictures to choose from!

Somewhere over the rainbow . . .

A friendly little toad in the hall on the way to our hotel room . . . maybe it's Prince Naveen waiting for Tiana ?

There were these two elephant statues we would pass coming and going from our hotel room and every single time we walked past them Sasha had to give them both a hug, then she would wave bye bye to them. It was hilarious!

Friday I went off to do a little shopping while Josh and Sasha took a nap. At the airport on Wednesday I had given Josh my credit cards to put in his wallet so that I didn't lose them as they were just randomly floating around my bag or my pockets. When I got out of the car on Friday to go shopping I couldn't find my credit cards . . . anywhere! But rather than panic I just violated a few Visa and Amex regulations and used my hubby's cards. :) I got a little bit of hassle, but was still able to buy everything I wanted. . . well okay not EVERYTHING. I had to limit myself a little. ;) Fortunately we found the cards in Josh's jacket pocket on Saturday morning as we were getting packed.

Mmmm, dessert at Mariachi's! This dessert makes the top ten for sure! It was apple burrito with ice cream and whip cream. Kind of a clever twist on Apple pie, I loved it! And you can see that Sasha did, too!

Spoons? We don't need no stinking spoons!

Going for a ride on the elephant . . .

Taking a break from swimming on our last day. She had to have been starving because otherwise you can't get her out of the water without a fight!

Saturday afternoon, as we were leaving the hotel we realized that I didn't get Josh's sunglasses out of the rental care before we returned it on Friday. That is the only item that remains lost from this vacation. :(

On the interterminal bus on Honolulu. Seriously everytime a shuttle or bus passed us she got upset and wanted to get on it! I think next year we'll just buy a couple of UTA passes and take a ride to the Bubble . . . .

Oh, the fun's not over yet! Sasha did great on all the plane rides. I couldn't have asked for a better kid for all that travel! However when we got off the plane in SLC Josh was in such a rush to get off the plane that he left his PSP behind. Fortunately a very nice man saw it and caught up to us in the jetway. Whew! Then when we got down to baggage claim I reached in my pocket for my phone . . . not there. Not in the diaper or treat bag . . . not anywhere! I realized it must have fallen out of my pocket on the plane ( I was carrying a 20 lb. sack of flour in the form of a sleeping child so no wonder I didn't notice). So I waited for Josh to get our bags then figured I would go to baggage services and see if they could call the gate and get my phone to me. I'd already made it through security once without a vital piece of information, I didn't want to press my luck again and try to get through without a boarding pass. As Josh was getting our bags a guy I recognized from the plane walked up to him, holding my phone!!! He said he had to turn back after getting halfway to baggage claim and get something he left on the plane and saw my phone on the seat. Fortunately he remembered who was sitting there and saw us getting our bags. Otherwise who knows what we would have done!!!

So now you know why I am calling this the "Lost and Found" vacation!