Stephanie's Kitchen

Due to somewhat popular-ish demand, I've started a cooking blog. Feel free to check it out.

Oh, and thanks, Ammon and Traci for the encouragement!

A Very Merry Un-Birthday!

Today we had a combined Birthday party for Yakko and Wakko. We figured that since both share the same friends, Yakko's Birthday was last week, and Wakko's is next week, it made sense.
We had an old fashioned party complete with balloons, cupcakes, popcicles, and yard games. All seemed to have a great time!Everyone was a winner!



Thanks so much, friends!

Caleb and Jonah

Brayden and Jordan

Isaac and Adam

Garrett and Jayden

Nick

Matthew W.

Thank you for the awesome gifts and the friendship; we had a great time!

Extraordinary Mothers

My dad sent this to me, and I loved it. Enjoy!

Pioneer Day Party

We had a lot of fun on Pioneer Day! Since we didn't really do anything for it last year, we thought it would be loads of fun to invited a few friends over for a BBQ. (We're really trying to be more social...)
Our friends the Hills, the Browns, and the Hamiltons came over. We had hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, fruit, veggies, chips, lemonade, and home made ice cream. It was like Thanksgiving, only with Summer foods!
Here are some of my favorite pics from the evening's festivities. Enjoy!

Jamma-Lamma Good Times!

Do you know anyone crazy enough to make twelve batches of apricot jam on any given Saturday night?

Now you do.

My Geekiness and Girliness

16% Geek

Created by OnePlusYou -

You are 80% girly!

you wish you could still play with those barbies and join another dance class, well you know what? you can! Go to the mall and splurge on all things pink!

How Girly are you?
Create a Quiz

Super Fun Name Game

1. YOUR REAL NAME: ~Stephanie
2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 3 letters of real name plus izzle) ~Steizzle
3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color and favorite animal) ~Pink Monkey
4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME:(your middle name and street you live on/or neighborhood if it's a number) ~Ann Magnolia
5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name) ~Maast
6. YOUR SUPERHERO/CRIMINAL NAME: (Your 2nd favorite color, and favorite drink) ~Brown Margarita
7. YOUR IRAQI NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, 1st letter of your last name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name, 3rd letter of your dads name, 1st letter of a siblings first name, and last letter of your moms first name) ~Tammlnn
8. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (parents middle names) ~O
9. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one of your pets) ~Black Cleo

Thanks, Uncle Nate, Aunt Melissa, and Family!

Dear Uncle Nate, Aunt Melissa, Sydney, Macey, and Porter,

Thank you for the fun birthday gifts! I love kites so much and the card is super cool! I can't wait to try out the magic rocks.

Love,

Yakko

Happy Birthday, Yakko!

Yakko turned nine years old on Sunday, July 20, 2008. He's such a great kid! I just love the little gentleman.

He ordered crepes for breakfast.

And then opened his gifts from Mom, Dad, Dot, and Wakko.
We spent a couple of hours playing Clue together as a family. Yakko won three times in a row!
In honor of his birthday, here's a list my top nine favorite things about Yakko.

1. Yakko is such a gentleman. He's always getting the door for any girls or women around, waiting for everyone to be served, and uses such nice table manners.

2. Yakko is so loving! If ever I need a hug, I can always count on Yakko being the first to offer one.

3. Yakko is very smart! He is great with math, reading, spelling, writing, computers, science, history, and art. His intelligence blows me away!

4. Yakko is a good friend. He watches out for others, and treats his little brother extremely well.

5. Yakko knows what's right and tries to always live it. He has a very good conscience; he rarely has to be disciplined.

6. Yakko is so handsome! I think that he's one of the most beautiful boys ever in the history of the world! No wonder so many little girls have crushes on him! Hubba-hubba!

7. Yakko is very responsible. He takes his jobs seriously and always does his best.

8. Yakko works hard to be a scout. He is learning to make and keep goals--this will come in very handy in medical school. Yakko wants to be a surgeon.

9. Yakko has a testimony. He loves the Church and tries so hard to live his life in accordance to the scriptures.



We had our family's party for Yakko on Saturday evening at Chuck E. Cheese's. Yakko spent most of the time there playing a racing car game: he got to be really good at it. Sunday, we had Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Tiffanie, Uncle Alvaro, and Aunt Kim over for Yakko's favorite California Soup, home made rolls, and chocolate cake. Grandma and Grandpa gave him Jenga. It was a blast!

Happy Birthday, Yakko! I love you!

Happy Anniversary!

Friday, July 18, 2008 was our Tenth Wedding Anniversary. I must say that it was a great day!

Dad surprised me by booking a room in the hotel where we spent our Honeymoon. He got a babysitter (thanks, Hamiltons!), and took care of everything. It was wondefully romantic, and a great time.

Did you know that you can buy raspberries in the grocery store on the left? There's a farmer's market in Heber, but only on Thursday night. If you want to go to the farm stand there, you can buy "fresh local California corn" for $6 a dozen.

Dad is so good to me; I love him so very much! I feel like my life has been blessed and enriched in ways I could never otherwise imagine for having Dad in my life. He is my rock, my sweetheart, my best friend!

Happy Anniversary, Love!

It is in Dad's sense of humor and cuteness that I now present to you...

"The Many Faces of Dad ..."

One Hundred

I was floored to discover that my 100th blog has come up so quickly. I guess I've always been a talker, so it shouldn't have been so surprising. Blogging is something of a release for me, and I enjoy the online scrap booking/journaling aspect of it.

I've hesitated and floundered over what I should post about... and my friends have made it clear that they're interested in the typical 100th post: 100 Things About Me. Here it goes.

1. I was born on the same day my family was moving into their house. My mom tells me it was great, except that she had to reorganize the kitchen.

2. My first best friend was Nicole B.. We met when we were three. Yes, we're still friends.

3. I love classical ballet.

4. I wish I could sing like Idina Menzel.

5. It's always been a secret wish of mine to be a crime scene investigator. The secret's out!

6. One person I've always wanted to be best friends with is my brother Nate. He's about the coolest person I've ever met. Seriously.

7. I also really respect my sister-in-law, Melissa. She is one incredibly talented woman; she's the most organized person I know.

8. I wish I were a size 6.

9. My favorite fruit is strawberries.

10. My first kiss was back stage at "Bye Bye Birdie" (the first time I did the show). I was 15. He kissed me on closing night, right before curtain call. Nate saw the whole thing.

11. It wasn't that great.

12. I finally like math.

13. I am not superstitious.

14. I had my first reportable car accident recently: I hit the light pole at the end of my drive way while backing out.

15. I love to feed people.

16. My senior year of high school I did four huge performances in a row: each one was a weekend right after the other (Hillcrest Dance Company Concert, Miss Sandy Pageant, "Matchmaker" -student director, and the Academy of Ballet Arts Dance Concert.) I learned that month that it is impossible to be four places at once.

17. I am passionately in love with my husband.

18. I cherish my friends so much: sometimes to the point of near smothering.

19. I have three younger sisters, and I adore them all.

20. I think that my kids are the cutest, smartest, best kids ever.

21. My nieces and nephews are a close second.

22. I grow to love my dancers in every show I do to the point that I think about them all the time. I miss them when the show's over, and delight in finding them afterwards.

23. I love to organize my house.

24. Wild flowers are my favorite.

25. Then roses.

26. I love zucchini. I could (and often do in the summer) eat it three times a day.

27. I would love to open a bakery, but I know that I'd eat too much.

28. I could spend all day reading.

29. My birthday really bugs me. I am not one who likes to have the attention on me: I'd rather have it on others.

30. I liked turning 30.

31. I have "dough-y" toes.

32. If I could afford it, I'd have season tickets to Hale Center Theater, Broadway Across America, Ballet West, Ririe Woodbury, and Scera Theater.

33. I could watch a movie in the theater twice a week, every week... again, if I could afford it.

34. Popcorn is my favorite snack. Ever.

35. My favorite colors are pink and brown.

36. I love to wear black.

37. I adore shoes.

38. My belly button is an inny- it always has been (even when I'm 72 months pregnant).

39. My favorite color to have my hair is either super blonde or mahogany.

40. I am not a big cat person.

41. My least favorite house hold chore is ironing. Or cleaning toilets.

42. One of my favorite things about Dad is that his sense of humor.

43. I worked at Wal-Mart for one night shift. Just one.

44. I love "Napoleon Dynamite". I know it's sick and wrong, but I do.

45. Speaking of movies, I'm a movie junkie. We have 217 dvds.

46. I'm allergic to avocados.

47. I've had toe surgery three times.

48. My eyes are brown.

49. I went to Washington, D.C. and New York, NY for my senior trip. It was awesome.

50. I met Mikhail Baryshnikov in New York. He's amazing.

51. I've seen two shows on Broadway: Phantom of the Opera, and Cats.

52. I would almost pull my own teeth out to see Wicked.

53. My favorite role I've ever had in a musical was "Martha" in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I was 18 and Sandy City did it. It was a wonderful experience!

54. My favorite ballet role I've ever done was "Swanilda" in Coppelia. (Yeah, that's so not a picture of me.)

55. I love monkeys.

56. My pet peeve is baby talk when you're not a baby. Ugh!

57. I grew up in Sandy, Utah.

58. Dad and I have purchased 5 houses. We're not moving again for a long time.

59. I have been the Primary Chorister no less than 5 times. It is not my favorite calling.

60. Dad took me (and Dot) on our first date to the St. George Temple grounds to see the Christmas lights and program.

61. I adore my dogs, Cleo and Bubba. Especially Cleo.

62. I have sold Avon and The Pampered Chef.

63. My favorite job (outside of being a mom!) is teaching/choreographing dance. I adore it! The more I get into it, the more I find I'm passionate about musical theater!

64. My greatest fear is losing one of my children.

65. My least greatest fear is burning dinner.

66. My favorite places in the house are the kitchen (see #15), and my bedroom (see #17).

67. My favorite grade in school was either 6th, 9th, or 11th. I loved my 6th grade teacher (Miss Michelson) and being with my friends (Nicci, Eve, and Heather). I loved 9th grade because I had some great friends (Stan, Tiffany, Nicci). I worked harder in 11th grade than I had ever in my life, so I really liked it, too.

68. I'm really not big into sports, but I love to watch my boys' baseball games.

69. My favorite thing to procrastinate doing is ironing. I don't like to iron.

70. My most random memory about Dot at age two is that she loved to climb into the big bag of dog food for our golden lab (Fred).

71. My most random memory about Yakko at age two is that he called apricots "pot", Popsicles "cigarettes", and frozen lemonade "spockport".

72. My most random memory of Wakko at age two is that he loved to hide in cupboards.

73. I was baptized on my 8th birthday by my dad.

74. I had long hair until I was about 24.

75. I'm glad my hair's long again.

76. My first job was teaching pre-ballet for my mom at The Academy of Ballet Arts. I loved it.

77. The best thing about my wedding was that I was marrying my sweetheart in the LDS Temple. We will be together forever!!!

78. My mentor in dance was Christie Freebarin. I still think she's one of the prettiest ballerinas ever.

79. I've always wanted to be like my mom. She can do anything!

80. I have a bit of a crush on Harrison Ford.

81. Sting is my favorite male vocal artist. Ever.

82. My favorite t.v. shows are any that have to do with investigation, detective work, etc. I love to feel like I'm learning stuff when I'm watching t.v. (which I don't do very often...)

83. My dream role in theater would have to be "Princess Winefred" in Once Upon a Mattress. I love that show.

84. I wish I could sing like Kate.

85. I would love love love to go to Europe. Anywhere in Europe.

86. I don't have a favorite age to teach in ballet: I really like the challenges that come with each age and stage in life.

87. My most memorable bad pet experience was when my dog, Miquie, bit my lip. She just snapped! I was playing with her, and she just went nuts. My face was bleeding: I waited for 30 minutes until my mom came home, just dripping into the sink. She took me to the ER, and I had to get stitches-- a lot.

88. I love to take pictures. If you've kept up on my blog at all, it's obvious to see. However, know that for every picture I post, there are around 50 that I didn't.

89. My best friend in ballet was Shawna Sennett. We alternated roles so much when we were young. It was great. I miss her.

90. I once told a boy that if he didn't take me home from the date, I'd throw up in his car. He had pulled into a dark parking lot... that was not alright with me.

91. He took me home.

92. If I could afford it, I'd love to go to Disneyland again.

93. I'd also love to go to Cleveland again. Soon.

94. My favorite show I've ever choreographed is "Bye Bye Birdie", followed by "Music Man, Jr."

95. I love to hostess things at my house because it means that I can clean, organize, and cook for other people. Huh... those are a few of my favorite things rolled into one! The best part is that it also means that I get to spend time with my beloved friends and family!

96. I have never been out of the continental United States of America.

97. I'd rather be out of bread than chocolate chips.

98. I wish I were choreographing another show.

99. I love that we do home schooling. I know that it's controversial, and that some really think it's a bad idea. I know that it is the best thing for my family right now: and we really do love it.

100. I am simply amazed that I came up with 100 things to say about myself. Thanks, Kate, for the ideas.

Whoah. I'm tired.