I asked my friend Kristi to host so that Ryan and I could participate fairly. She did a great job and had some great questions! Thanks Kristi for always being part of the fun, it wouldn't be a party without you!
I also invited James and Jackee, who won. Which means they won Hershey's Bliss chocolates. Those two made me sick :)
Here is Opee and Tara who came in second, a big improvement over last time! They won a Symphony bar, because even though they are a little out of tune, they are still in harmony.
Ryan and I took third, which meant we got the Nerds, the only candy I didn't want.
Burton and Lisa ended up in last place, the duds, winning the Milk Duds. They were so cute and funny, it was great!
So all in all, it was a great night! I love getting together with friends and having a good laugh! Thanks everyone for playing! We'll see you in a few years because I definately want a rematch!
I can now say:
I decided to get some tools for cake decorating since I figured Andrea should have some more exciting cakes than Ryan and I usually make. And although I am pleased with how it turned out, it seemed a little amateur after watching cake decorating shows all the time on TLC. Also, please ignore the backwards candle. Ryan and I didn't even noticed until we looked at the pictures.
I think Andrea loved being sung to, and even though we had tried to practice blowing, she was way too distracted to realize this was the moment we had been practicing for.
Next- Last Monday when Ryan said, "I really don't have much to do at work this week" I thought, "Maybe I could talk him into taking a day off". I really should ignore it when he says things like that! But he was able to come home "early" on Friday so we ran some errands in Salt Lake and I talked him into going to the Discovery museum at the Gateway. After taking a tour of it 2 years ago I knew I wanted to bring Andrea some day. However, Ryan and I soon realized she is still too young to fully enjoy the experience. So we didn't stay long but Andrea always likes watching kids play. Here she is driving one of the cars.
So although it seemed to be a waste of money, at least we can look forward to going back one day.
Andrea was so cute when he first arrived and wanted to keep holding his hand as you could see in the first picture. Then once I put him in Andrea's rocker she wanted to show him how it was done. By the end of the day when Brett came to pick up Bracken Andrea had really become attached and tried to get his car seat straps undone. I think it will be a lot of fun seeing these two interact!
Here are a few pictures of Andrea and her cousins, Brigitta and Roland. It's always fun to see them interact!
With the weather being unpredictable lately I was worried that Ryan may not be able to come with us and miss out on her first Santa visit. But luckily the snow stayed away ,and he was there. I wanted to take a picture to prove that Daddy always likes to be a part of things. 
Not only did Andrea get the creepy stuffed Santa you see in the photo, she also received a bag full of toys and goodies. Plus Ryan and I grabbed some cookies before we left. So I would say it was a pretty successful milestone!
Now those of you who know me, know that I've seen a lot of plays, and been in quite a few too. I can honestly say that this was probably the funnest show I'd been to. My expectations were low, and maybe that helped, but I was blown away by the talent! Plus they involved the audience so much, we were all clapping and singing (well, except the young couple at our table who seemed "too cool" for that sort of thing). I would definately attend this show again! The food was good, the atmosphere was fun, the company was great, and the cast was adorable! So, to say the least, our girls night didn't dissapoint and we all agreed we need to get together again soon.
Last Friday Ryan and I thought it would be fun to let Andrea try Grandma and Grandpa's hot tub. We turned the temperature down to a reasonable temp for a baby, put her in her floaty swim suit from Aunt Sandy, and hopped in. We were suprised that she didn't have much of a reaction at all. She didn't love it, didn't hate it. She acted real listless and sleepy. Afterwards I noticed she felt quite warm and her cheekies were a little red. When we got home and took her temperature it read 99.9. I thought this was due to the hot tub and gave her a luke warm bath and Tylenol hoping that would help. In the middle of the night during a fussy spell I took her temp again and it was 101.4. After a while of snuggling up against me my chest was covered in drool... "teething" was my first thought. After another day of fussiness and Saturday night a temperature of 101.7 I was worried! We headed to the doctor Sunday as soon as they opened and found out our little one had strep throat. The doctor said it's unusual for any child under 2. I'm sure it was so frustrating for her not to be able to tell us what's wrong, just the fact that our little girl was out of sorts should have been enough of a clue. 
During this fun weekend of sickness the dog had peed in the kitchen and Ryan said it was mostly blood. We called the vet Saturday but they had no openings until Monday. We figured it was just a bladder infection and some antibiotics would do the trick. Monday afternoon I got ready for yet another doctor trip, this time dropping off our sick Andrea, well-druged, at the in-laws while I took our other babe to the doctor. As the vet, who graduated with Ryan and I (makes me feel old that someone our age has been through that much schooling), felt around you could literally hear rocks clinking in Tessy's tummy. She explained that those were bladder stones and that surgery was needed. After seeing the x-ray for myself, my heart broke. This poor dog had grape-sized rocks in her bladder that had been forming for years. So on Wednesday Tess went in for surgery and came home that evening. Her initial recovery was scary! She had the shakes, wouldn't open her eyes, and seemed ill-tempered. After an hour or two of rest she popped right up seeming her old self again. Grandpa Gary was kind enough to babysit our patient on Thursday morning while I headed off to work. Today it's my turn, and she is doing quite well. She wants to do more than she should and I'm trying my best to stop her from licking her wounds so we don't have to use the lampshade collar. We actually had to use the baby gate already, not for Andrea, but to keep the dog from going down the stairs.
