Murder Mystery Dinner Party

For our annual Halloween party this year we (Meg and I) hosted a murder mystery dinner party. It was a formal setting that took place at Kaleb and Meg's home... er, I mean Mr. and Mrs. Martinelli.
We had about 30 guests. Here are just a few....

Police Officer Bigg and his wife, Mrs. Bigg

Ms. Scarlett, the famous actress and the Investigator, Mr. Black

A few others looking dashing in their attire and fulfilling their characters wonderfully!

Cookie and Muffin, the maids/servant girls

Cookie was found shot in the kitchen

Laying next to her gruesome body was the weapon.

Officer Bigg and Investigator Black questioning the guests at the party

Who did it? Mrs. Cole!!
The motive? Her husband, Mr. Cole was having an affair with Cookie.
Because of her rage and jealousy she shot Cookie in cold blooded murder.

Thank goodness for the police officer being there to take her away!
Ended up being a fabulous night and a great time.

Swine Flu

Man, is it just me or has there been lots of hype about swine flu? (or I guess it's not called that anymore) I mean H1N1? Of course there is good reason for there to be lots of hype about it. We are in a pandemic.

So I wanted to get peoples feedback about vaccinating for H1N1. Utah county just started doing vaccinations but there are too many people who want it, and not enough to give it. They had people standing out all night long to wait in line to get vaccinated. And then they STILL had to turn people away because there wasn't enough.

Am I crazy for not doing it? It just seems the risks outweigh the benefits from getting it. Plus, it sounds like even if I wanted to get it, I probably couldn't because there isn't enough to go around. Then of course I have my reservations about immunizing my children from it as well. I was reading online about the side effects from Tamiflu, which is the vaccination they give to children 7 years and younger. They said a lot of doctors have had children come in with mental side effects, such as hearing voices and seeing things that aren't there. It just seems like for something so new, we don't know for a 100% certainty that this is all that safe.

But, I don't know maybe I'm wrong. I watched a show the other night on the H1N1 virus and other pandemics and basically, we can do all the hand washing, mask wearing, people avoiding we want. But, it's pretty inevitable that its unavoidable. Even with people wearing masks, they've said that germs can still live on those masks and become transferred to people's mouths. Great. So basically I need to fill up a big bubble and climb inside and stay there until this pandemic passes. OR get vaccinated, which I'm not all too sure about just yet.

I don't know. What do you think???

25

On October 18, 1984 Luke James Gillman was born. That was just a short 25 years ago.Since he's not "getting" much for his birthday, I will do the mother of all posts in honor of him. After all, if he wasn't born than my life wouldn't be what it is today. So here is my birthday tribute to the love of my life.

25 reasons why I love Luke

He was such a cute baby, and therefore produced some cute babies as well!

He is a hotty. This is the 10th grade man that I fell in love with.

He has the best smile

Did I mention that I think he's hot?

I love how much he loves me and says I'm his best friend

I love that he can be a goofball, and that I'm usually the only one who gets to see it! ;)

I love how much his little boy looks up to him and that Luke is a good example for him.
(Most of the time)

I love how he is with his nieces and what a good uncle he is.

Luke and Irey



I love that he can spend all day at work with his brothers and not get sick of them! :)

I love how Luke will never gossip or talk bad about people.
I think this is a trait only few people possess. He makes me want to be a better person.

I love how close Luke is with his family....

And how close he is with mine

He's the funnest person to vacation with, whether it be....

On a beach.....

Or on a Harley trip! Oh yeah, baby!!



I love what a spiritual giant he is and that he is my rock!

Luke is great at everything he does. Seriously. EVERYTHING! It gets kind of annoying. But he truly is the Jack of all trades. There is nothing he can't do. And nothing he can't do WELL.

For example:

He is artsy and creative

He painted my 9 month pregnant belly and did a good job too, if I might add!!
(Of course he had a rather LARGE canvas to paint on)


He is an EXCELLENT wake boarder, water skier, snow boarder, etc, etc..

Excellent fisherman. Fly fishing and bate fishing.

And of course.... hunting.

He proved hunting to be his true calling in life when he drew out for a bull tag (at 18-which is rare in itself) AND shot a very impressive elk. My hero!!!

Of course, turkeys too. Sigh.

I love his love for outdoors and that Lake Powell is one of his favorite places to be.

He built our entire home with his own two hands. Seriously. Our WHOLE house.
I knew he was talented when I married him, but DANG.
He took me by surprise after our home was built.

I love what a hands-on dad he is. He's like a big child at heart.

I love that he is a family man and I know there is nothing he wouldn't do for me or our family.

(I think that's only 24, but I deleted one by accident. And I'm NOT starting over!)

The list can go on and on, but my computer doesn't hold that much memory.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is......


I love you Luke. You are the greatest man I know.
Hope your 25th birthday is the best one yet!!

Trust a one year old!!

So if all else fails.... think like a one year old. This is what happened to me today when I couldn't find my remote. I remember thinking that she was standing by the freezer today when I had it opened.

Similar thing happened the other day when she got into my "unmentionable drawer" in my bedroom!

Good thing she keeps life interesting!

MUST READS!!

I have been busy reading these past few weeks, which isn't too common for me. I have never seemed to find the time to do it. Now I know why. My house is a wreck. But, I don't care. I have enjoyed these book immensely and wanted to pass on these suggestions if you have not read them.

These is my words
such a great book. I could easily read this book again. It's such a great love story.
Similar to Gone with the wind, except only better! (I think, anyway!)

The Hunger Games
This book was so fascinating. I'm not going to tell you what it was about, you'll just have to find out for yourself. It was AWESOME!!

Catching Fire
Sequel to Hunger Games and equally as good.

So if you haven't read these yet, I highly recommend them. These books are just too good to not pass on. Let me know if you've read them or what you thought. Would also like to hear of any book suggestions that some of you might have??

Hello? Is anyone out there? Does anyone still read this blog? Well congratulations for not giving up on me and my blog slacking. I've gotten pretty lazy in the blog-department. So here is a re-cap of the exciting (yet, not so exciting) things that have been keeping us busy.......

These past few months have been humbling for our family. Like a lot of people, we have seen the negative side of this yucky economy. People for some reason choose to feed their families over wanting new counter tops. Can you BELIEVE that??? Ha ha.
So, it has caused us to cut back A LOT. Which has been okay. We are still surviving. There is always someone out there who is going through a lot worse. So I'll grin and bare it. What more can you do, anyway? Even though my husband would throw his head back at laugh at this but.... I am EXTREMELY grateful for him. He is a wise man. Sometimes I call him Grandpa, because he could live in the stone ages (or through the great-depression at least) for his mentality on money and finances. Even though money has been a sore spot in our marriage since we've said "I do", I am truly grateful for how wise he is even though I may not always tell him.
He is a saver. That right there is the reason (the ONLY reason) why we are staying afloat!

But on that note.... if you need counter tops or know of anyone that does, Quinn Gillman Counter tops will not turn you away. You can guarantee that!!!


Now on to Miss Hallie. She has developed into quite a full of spirit (aka STINKER) of a little girl. She has got a lot of feistiness to her and I have NO IDEA where she gets from. (Snicker, snicker!)
She has also gotten pretty busy which has led to some trouble....

At a night out to Hogi-Yogi my little darling wouldn't sit in her highchair. So she was bouncing up and down on the table and whattya know? She slips and falls and smacks her teeth down on the table, cutting her lip, chipping out the table, and chipping her TOOTH.

Her dad has since called her "chippy" and I've called her "snaggle-tooth".
Luckily this isn't her permanent tooth and will fall out. (In 4-5 YEARS!!!)

Last weekend we had the opportunity to go up to Gardner Village with the kids. It was the witches festival and the kids got to dress in their costumes. I don't know about you, but that right there is the cutest bumble bee, batman, and lady bug that I've ever seen!!!

Miss Hallie was whacking me on the head during the picture.
If that gives you any idea on what a "darling" little Miss Priss is!?!?

The highlight of last week:
SWAT team in my backyard. So I'm sitting visiting with my visiting teachers when all the sudden I see SWAT team at my fence of my backyard. Weapons up and pointed towards the house behind me. Doing all their hand motions, decked out in camo. Next thing I know, there are explosions. They are on the roof of this abandoned home hollering over an intercom:
"Come out. We want to talk to you. We don't want anyone to get hurt!"
At this point, I'm freaking out thinking there is some sort of hostage situation. This continues with firing and more explosions for the next 2 hours. Then the ambulance and firetrucks come and put some guy on a stretcher and drive off with sirens going. I finally called Lindon city police dispatch to find out what the blazes is going on!!
Lo and behold, all they were doing were TRAINING. I was about to evacuate my home and head to Motel 8!! The crazy thing is, the ambulance and the guy on the stretcher was legit. I guess a truck fell on one of the construction workers across the street while SWAT was there. I guess he timed that good!
All in all, it made for an interesting afternoon!!!

That's the latest and greatest with us. Check back in a month or so and hopefully I've posted more!! ;)

Mom, do you believe in angels?

Today I was taking Hunter's friend, Talon home after they got done playing at our house. Hallie was home with Luke so it was just Talon and Hunter in the backseat. Hunter on the right side, Talon on the left.
After we had been in the car after a minute Hunter said to Talon, "Talon, this empty seat is for Carson. But he can't sit there because he died and went to live with Jesus."
Talon replied, "Your DAD died?"
Hunter's response: "NO! Carson died."
Talon: "Cars died?"
Hunter: "NO! Car-SON."
After he said this it was quiet in the car for a minute Hunter said, "Mom, do you believe in angels?"
My reply: "I sure do. Your brother Carson is probably an angel now too."
Talon's reply: "Angels are made out of stone, ice, and tires."
My reply: "Hmmm. I didn't know that."
Then the conversation abruptly changed to something about Chuck E. Cheese.

I smiled during this car ride. Since Carson's passing Hunter will ask me questions about him from time to time. Or basically TELL me about him. Lately he blurt things out in Primary about him. I'm a Primary teacher so I get the luxury of seeing all the embarrassing things he does. Every week they do a spotlight and they say something about someones brother and Hunter will yell out, "I have a brother. He died. His name is Carson." I kind of get embarrassed because it's kind of a mood killer!
But I'm glad that he remembers him. I'm glad we brought him to the hospital that day to meet/say goodbye to his brother. I almost didn't have Hunter come because I thought it would confuse him or make him sad. He was barely two when we had him. But now I know that it was the right thing to do. After all, they were probably good friends once upon a time.
I'm glad that Hunter considers him an angel. I'm glad he has his very own personal angel.

I'm glad that I have my very own angel too.

FREE veggies

If some of you have a garden then you're probably encountering my same dilemma: EXCESS VEGETABLES. I for one have a pet peeve of wasted food. It drives me crazy! I've been doing as much as I can with these babies: canning, salsa, I have cooked my zucchini at least 20 different ways. We have eaten vegetables with almost every meal. But, it's still not enough. My garden is still too generous.

So I am offering FREE VEGETABLES to anyone that wants them. If you need veggies for a meal or a recipe: DON'T GO TO THE STORE. Come to me first. If you know me well enough to know where I live, consider my garden yours. (Which also means you'll have to pick 'em yourself!) We've got TONS of tomatoes, yellow peppers, red peppers, green chilies, ZUCCHINI, cucumbers, red potatoes, jalapeno peppers, just to name a few. So PLEASE, come enjoy! You really would be helping a girl out!
Thanks! :)

I would like you to meet.....

I feel like I mention my husband and kids a lot, but I fail to mention some other very important people in my life: my siblings. I am very blessed to have great sisters and a great brother. And you know what? We actually LIKE each other. No, really!! And we get along great, too. (For the most part) So, I thought I would introduce them to you. (In birth order) So you can have the pleasure of getting to know these great individuals and see why I love them as much as I do...


1. Amy

You see, even though Amy is the oldest, we joke that I really should've been born before her. Amy is very yellow personality, which makes her a lot of fun, carefree, easy-going. Which means that makes me the red/blue personality and was always having to be the responsible one and take care of her. Ha ha.

Amy is a friend to everyone, is very fashionable, and someone I look up to a lot. Although, that wasn't always the case. Growing up, Amy and I HATED each other. Sounds a little cruel? Well, it's pretty accurate. Our mission in life was to make each others lives miserable. And that we did. I would say that I regret how we were to each other, but I look back on those years and just have to laugh. It is what has made us as close as we are today. Sometimes you have to go through the hard times to get to the best times.
(Amy- In case I haven't said it, I am sorry about the time I punched you in the face)

2. Me

You hear enough about me!

3. Kylie

Kylie is the adopted Chinese sister. Just kidding, Kys. I love you. I fulfilled my roles as an older sister and told Kylie from a young age that she was really adopted and she was Chinese. She has always had really small eyes, fair complexion and dark hair. So, I continually enjoy from time to time teasing her about this. But, truth be told Kylie is GORGEOUS. She has a beauty like no other and a smile to match. I'm glad she looks "different" from the rest of our family because that's what makes her unique.

Kylie is our family hair-extraordinaire! She's a hair stylist by day, and a mommy by night.
She is perfect with both!! But that's not all she is. She is one of my best friends. This could be said about all my sisters, however. But, Kylie is a very loyal person. Don't know what I would do without her! I have always been a little protective of her. Kylie knows there is nothing I wouldn't do for her or any boy I wouldn't punch in the face for hurting her. She will always be my little sister.

4. Jenessa

Can I just say how much I love this girl? Jenessa is 17. But don't think for two seconds that, that makes her a typical 17 year old. Jenessa is incredibly smart. I'm not saying she's the perfect 4.0 student. That's not the "smart" I'm talking about. Jenessa is very unique in the way she looks at the world. She is a beautiful person, who at the young age of 17 knows what she wants from life, and what she has to do to get it. I admire her for this. She did have 3 older sisters to follow their example of "what not to do". Which, I'm glad. She learns from her mistakes (and others mistakes too) She is beautiful and confident and HUMBLE. She's a triple threat!! One day, MANY years from now. She will make some man a very, very, very lucky man. She is a sweetheart and rarely has a bad day. If she does, I hardly ever see it. Jenessa is a gem!


5. C.J (Colin Jackson)
C.J. is the last after 4 OLDER SISTERS. Poor kid, huh? He will be 15 in September and I still remember the day he was born. C.J. was "my baby" since the day my mom brought him home from the hospital. I was 10 and was completely crazy about him. I considered myself his "2nd mom" and loved him dearly. He is an easy-going kid. He is very athletic. (Which with four older, athletically challenged sisters is a MIRACLE!) He is as sweet as can be and a little spoiled. :) CJ already has lots of girls after him, mom and dad are in BIG trouble.

Since CJ is dominated by four older sisters, I always feel bad for him. He sometimes gets left out of things. -Which maybe he doesn't mind so much. Considering some topics of choice usually include something about boobs and periods. But, he never complains. The truth is, I think he secretly likes having four older sisters. Why wouldn't you if you're spoiled to death by most of them?




Words really won't do it justice how much these people mean to me or what incredible individuals they are. I love you Amy, Kylie, Jenessa, and CJ. You are ALL the world's greatest people I know! ;)

Stats

Final tally at Hallie's 12 month doctor check up:

Head:17.8 inches (55%)
Weight: 19.75 (28%)
Length: 29 inches (48%)

She's a growin girl. Although she's my smallest child to date. That's the difference between boys and girls, I guess. I also thought you might enjoy some more pictures of her. The last picture of her sitting on the bench makes me smile whenever I see it. The poor photographer tried his very hardest to get her to smile. Right before he decided to give up, she bust up laughing. But, it was more like a courtesy laugh. Or more like, "Ha ha sucker. I'm not going to laugh for you." It was really quite funny. I love that stubborn, goofy girl.