World's Best Dad

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My dad has always been the greatest. He has always been supportive of me and my sisters, no matter what. He has always put our needs and wants before his. People have always been amazed at some of the things that he has done to spend time with us or make sure we weren't "missing out" on the concert of the year, or the big game, or the coolest vacation spot, etc etc.

Years back he took us to the U2 concert because it was so the "it" thing to do, and we had a fantastic time. What other dad dances along to Rage Against the Machines just because? Just last year he took me to see Bon Jovi, and a month later took my sister to see Motley Crue. He took two of my sisters to Chicago last year so they could see Madonna (he opted to drop them off instead of going to that one...)

Growing up I always had the "cool" dad, and it sometimes bugged me when the boys wanted to hang out with him instead of me! It must have been a little tough to have all girls, though, so I'm glad we could provide him with some "sons" every once in a while!

My favorite thing about my dad is that he makes me laugh, and he sits and listens to my every effort to make myself laugh. After BYU beat Utah this year, I went to pick up my kids and he greeted me at the door with a big hug--and then he laughed at me. He truly is the best!

Happy Birthday Dad, we love you!

The Best Kind of Sunday

We are having the best kind of Sunday. First, we went to church in Lindon this morning to listen to my cousin, Becky, speak at her mission farewell. Church is always better when you can listen to someone speak who you know, like, and won't make you wish you were sleeping. (It's great, too, when you know you can leave after the first block.)

Then, we headed over to the house for a Thanksgiving-ish feast. I didn't have to make it or clean it up. There was plenty of good company to sit around the table and visit with--which is something you don't get every Sunday. It was fabulous and yummy. Thank you Marc and Jill!

Now we are home, and for the first time in a couple of weeks we have nothing to do. We can take a nap, play with new toys, lay on the couch and watch tv, and then take another nap. I think I will begin un-decking my halls. I always feel so much better when everything is put away--the house seems so much more open and clean-ish. Happy Sunday, everybody--this is the best kind!

We Believe

This was my Christmas surprise! I had no idea that Shane was planning this. He had my whole family in on it. We went to my parents house for Christmas morning, and he told me that my dad had a surprise in the garage. I went to look and at first I thought "my Dad bought a Hummer?", but it only took a second for me to realize that it was mine and then Shane handed me the keys. What a great surprise! Now I just have to get used to the idea of me driving a tank! It is huge! Thanks, Shane, I love it!

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Christmas has come and gone, but we have enjoyed every single second. We had a great Christmas Eve...we started out at Breakfast with Santa, and then made our way to the Belliston family party {complete with dinner, games and Santa--thanks, Candy, it was fabulous!}, and then came home to make cookies and write letters for Santa, open our pajamas, and watch "Hairspray" to wind down and get ready for bed. There was no excitement lost, let me tell you! By the end of the evening we were all exhausted--but it's a great feeling!

This morning we were up at 7:30 {which was earlier than I expected}, spoiled by Santa, opened gifts, and made our way to the Partridge home for Christmas morning with my family. Everybody was there, and that was great because we only got to have Norm and Rachael for a couple of hours before they had to be to the airport to get back to New Jersey. {We will miss you guys so much!} It has been a fantastic Christmas and I'm sad that it is over.

The great news of the day {well, part of the greatness of the day}...my mom and dad gave me a new camera, so no more blurry pictures, YAY!

The Gingerbread Caper

Ashlyn and her classmates have been very busy this Christmas season. They prepared for months to put on a play, "The Gingerbread Caper". They sang several songs, and each had their own speaking part. It was quite funny and cute! Ashlyn's part was "Oh my, Oh no, he's gone! Is he playing hide and seek?" She worked on this for a month to get it just right, and I must say I was impressed with the emotion in which she delivered it to the audience. We may have an actress on our hands! Carly thought the whole thing was great and she has been singing several of the songs ever since.

Today I got to go and help with the Christmas party in Ashlyn's classroom. It was fabulous. The kids had a great time. I must say these Highland Elementary mom's go all out. We were each in charge of a game, and that was so much fun. We did a craft, and we were complete with a 3 tier punch fountain. Yep, a punch fountain at the 1st grade Christmas party. These kids are living the life I tell ya! They had more fun playing in the fountain than drinking the punch. I'm kicking myself for not getting a picture of it! They were also the only class lucky enough to have a visit from Mrs. Claus. She read them stories, told them all about living at the North Pole, and brought them each a personalized letter from Santa!

School is now officially out for Christmas break and I can't believe it. This seems like the fastest December ever! It must be true that time goes by faster as you get older, because even last year seemed to move at a more enjoyable pace--this year has gone by way too fast, and there is so much I still want to do!

Called to Serve

A few months back, when we heard that my cousin, Becky, was going on a mission, we immediately thought of having a "missionary" shower. First, because we love to have parties/showers of any kind, and second, because we are so proud and excited for Becky. She's the first Haynie girl to serve a mission and she will be awesome! What made it even better, though, was that we had this shower with girls and guys--and it was a blast. Our guys really know how to party (and Pictionary with Hymns, who knew the men would dominate)! We missed all of those who couldn't make it--so wish you could have been here!

I assigned Chrissy to take pictures for all of you, and she took 1! Yep, one! And it was blurry. I took some and all but about 3 were blurry. Apparantly Santa needs to bring some photography lessons to the Partridge household. So, I apologize. Becky, every picture I took with you in it didn't work. My camera is crappy. I'm sorry--but, hey, you weren't too thrilled about me taking them anyway, right! So, here's a very small taste of the good times...

And what's a party without yummy food (you'd think I'd have waited to take the picture until after ALL the food was out!), and party favors full of chocolate (and a few mints for Jill!)

Thanks for coming everybody! Hope you had a great time! And good luck, Becky, we know you'll be great!

Last Christmas

I decided to do a "flashback Friday". Who knows, this may become a new tradition. For all of you homophobs, I tried to spare you the George Michael, but there just isn't a better version out there, sorry!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Okay, so to add to my last post here is a list of my FAVORITE Christmas tunes this year. Some are my own classics, and others have just become fun recently.

10. "The Nativity Song", a primary song I'm teaching all the kids this year
9. "Santa Claus", Bruce Springsteen
8. "The Greatest Time of the Year", Aly and AJ
7. "Believe", Josh Groban
6. "All I Want for Christmas", Britney Spears
5. "Christmas", U2
4. "Last Christmas", Wham
3. "What Christmas Means to Me", Stevie Wonder

2. "Christmas Medley", Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband

1. "The Forgotten Carols", Michael McLean

Honorable Mentions: "Santa Baby", Madonna; "Hey, Santa", Ashanti; "Rudolph", Jack Johnson; "Joy to the World", Dixie Chicks

Do You Hear What I Hear?

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I love, love, love Christmas music. I have certain songs that I can sing all season long and never get tired of dancing around my house to. There are those that have been favorites of mine since I was little. I have realized, though, that there are a specific few that make me roll my eyes and want to throw whatever listening device I am using out the window. You know the ones--you recognize them within a couple of notes because they bug you so bad. So, here are the 10 worst Christmas songs EVER, according to me. I'm bugged just thinking about them.

10. "Christmas in Hollis" by Run DMC--This barely even qualifies as Christmas music, but for some reason people out there love it. Not me.

9. "We Need a Little Christmas" by anybody. Totally just bugs me--for some reason it reminds me of annoying neighbors and people who are over-the-top Christmas.

8. "Do They Know It's Christmastime" by Band Aid--They just way overdid this one when they tried to get a whole bunch of celebs together. Whenever I hear it all I can do is picture Boy George, and that ruins any Christmas spirit.

7. "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" by anybody. Could this song be any more slow, long, and boring? Torture I tell you.

6. "Feliz Navidad"--The song is bad enough, but the worst part is being forced to listen to every RM who speaks Spanish sing along as if they are impressing anybody.

5. "So This is Christmas" by John Lennon--The Beatles suck, and so does this little diddy.

4. "Mele Kalikimaka"--I hate it. That's all I can say.

3. "Where are you Christmas" by Cindy Lou Who--Totally sappy, and the girls voice is annoying.

2. "Wonderful Christmastime" by Paul McCartney--I seriously want to flop around on the floor, having spasms to the beat of this song. It's that bad.

1. And the absolute worst Christmas song EVER..."Christmas Shoes" by NewSong. By far the dumbest Christmas song I have ever heard. I distinctly remember the first time I heard it a few years back--my face must have been hilarious because I was so in awe over who would ever write or sing such a dumb song and try to make it sad and "heartwarming". Give me a break.

Please fill me in on any I may have missed. I realize I will get some grief over my picks, because frankly, some of you have crappy taste in music. I'm sticking to my fun, upbeat Britney and friends.

Human Taste

So, that Edward Cullen is a hottie. It took me a while to really picture it (as stated

in my previous post). At first I wasn't seeing it--so I looked up what the author pictured

him as--and that helped. He is a cutie! However, I'm still not seeing the "I'm soooo in love with Edward" phenomenon. I really did like this book. I couldn't put it down, just like the rest

of you. Mostly because, and those of you who know me well won't be surprised, I love

the high-school romance. I love the "will he notice me, will he ask me out, when will he kiss

me" emotion of the story. But, and this is a huge but, the guy is a vampire. A monster. I don't

care how good looking he is supposed to be. Every time Bella and Edward had a conversation about how hard it was for him not to bite her, and how he just appeared places and could do things that weren't human I found myself rolling my eyes. This is just a thing with me--I'm not a big fan of movies or books that could never really happen (something that drives Shane bonkers). However, I will be reading the next 2 books, and my friends

and I already have a date for the movie. Maybe I will change my mind--as for now,

I prefer humans.

Because I have so impressed myself with my ability to "perfectly" soundtrack my blog according to my posts, I came up with my own list of perfect songs for the movie soundtrack. Hollywood should hire me immediately.

1. Matchbook Romance--Monsters (now playing). Perfect for the opening credits.

2. Juliet Turner--Vampire. Just a good song for anywhere in the movie.

3. David Usher--Black Black Heart. You know, because he's a vampire.

4. Def Leppard--Love Bites (I know, I kill me too). How great would that be for Bella and Edward's first dance at the prom.

5. INXS--Devil Inside. For when James and his crew are out to get Bella.

6. Brigitte Handley--Sleeping with a Vampire.

What do you think? I'm a genius, right?

Let it be Christmas

Oh, this has been a very busy week! Between trying to manage my home and church callings, play with my sister and her kids while they were in town, finish reading "Twilight" (my review will be coming shortly), getting Carly's 24 hour flu bug, and decorate for Christmas, I am finally happy to say I'm finished--with the decorating that is. I absolutely love Christmas (as long as it comes AFTER Thanksgiving)! It makes me so happy to put on the Christmas tunes and dance around the house with my girls. Ashlyn and Carly were so very excited to help this year (which was good and bad...) We had a great time and now we are loving just laying around the tree at night, enjoying all the fun things about Christmas.

We decorated all around the house, but I have 3 favorite things that I get to put out each year. First, my Christmas tree. I add to it every year, and each time I just love it. It's so my style and I don't wish that it were any different. Second, my 12 days of Christmas bells (if you look closely you can see them on the mantle). These are a treasure of mine. Every year (for 6 years) since I was very little my Marmie and Papa would give me 2 new bells to add to my set. My family knows that I love them and they weren't too shocked when it was one of the first things I took with me when I got married. Third, our family stockings. I made these about 3 years ago and I still get so excited to put them up (by the chimney with care, of course). I was so happy with how they turned out.

Vampire Fever

For about a year now I have been hearing everyone tell me how great this book is. A must read. I seriously questioned, several times, how I would ever enjoy a book about vampires. I mean, really. Vampires?

Then my friend Trish convinced me to read it. How? She told me it was a high school love story. I was sold. So, I ordered it online one Sunday evening. It took forever to get here but I just got it and have read the first chapter. (Shane wasn't so excited to see it, he has heard about it and is worried I will lock myself up for the next couple of days). I have been introduced to the town of Forks. So far I like the place--small town, I love that. I have met Bella, and now Edward (so far kind of creepy, I picture a skinny little goth boy wearing make-up and girl pants). I'm curious to see if I follow suit or disappoint everyone around me by being critical. This could be interesting...

Happy Birthday Mom

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Today is my mom's birthday. It's kind of sad that she has to share it with Thanksgiving because she deserves a day to herself. But, on the positive side, we get to be together and have Katie's family here, too. I love my mom so much for everything that she does. She is one of my best friends and I honestly don't know what I'd do without her (I tried it once while they were in Detroit and I missed her so much!). She works so hard to make things so great for all of us and we appreciate her so very much--more than she'll ever know, I'm sure. We love you mom!

Turkey Feast

We had our Haynie family feast last night. We have finally learned that if we do it the night before Thanksgiving we can have more people there--it's great! We were still a little small because so many were out of town this year but it was fabulous, as usual. I absolutely love Thanksgiving. I love that it is just about family time and having fun together. There are no distractions and when you feel like sitting down and watching The Best of Will Ferrell you can! The girls had so much fun playing with cousins and running around. Grandpa got a new air hockey table and it was a hit. Ashlyn couldn't stay away. Carly had 3 pieces of pie! We had a great time and today we are going to relax and eat more food!

I Bleed Red

The official countdown has begun. Rivalry week is the best week of the year for me--as good as any holiday. I love hearing the smack talk go down, I love watching Cougar fans get nervous, I love watching Ute fans get pumped up, and I love the anticipation.

Since I was little I have loved this game. I used to decorate the basement with Utah banners and posters and be so excited for it. Back then we usually lost, but we always had that hope. And come the end of the day, we could rest assured knowing that we were so much cooler and better looking than Cougar fans--win or lose.

I have the fondest of memories regarding this rivalry. I have gotten the best laughs while watching it all go down. There was the year we were there to witness BYU players and coaches being pelted with 100's of snowballs--that was classic! And when the dumbest BYU fan got the crap beat out of him for thinking he was tough enough to take on a Ute cheerleader (in his defense it was the flag's fault...). Every year brings something new to talk about, whether it be about the actual game or the idiots sitting next to you. This has it all!

The adrenaline is already pumping at our house. Use this music to get you all revved up--this year we're at Cougar Stadium so Popcorn Poppin' Darth Vadar is as good as it will get...

What Time Is It?

It's High School Musical On Ice time! What kind of parents would we be if we didn't take our girls to see High School Musical? Thanks to my awesomely generous cousin, Amy, and her hubby Nick, we got hooked up once again. These guys do the morning show on one of the radio stations here and they get all sorts of goodies that they so kindly pass our way. The girls were ecstatic when they sent us these tickets (and I do admit, I was happy also!) Shane was laughing at all the mom's that were looking so thrilled to be there--I had to explain to him that we mom's do get a little overly excited when our children are so happy! I was driving both Ashlyn and Carly crazy because I just wanted to get a picture of them and they just wanted to watch. All I could ever get was a profile or back of the head shot. I should be happy that they were so into it! We had a blast--thanks Nick and Amy! We'll be singing for the next week!

Every Village Has an Idiot

Church ball is supposed to be fun and uplifting. For the most part that is true. True, that is, until you involve men. Some men have this uncontrollable need to show everybody that they can hit a ball really hard, or win a game all by themselves (therefore leaving the rest of their team wondering why they even showed up). I totally don't get it. As our Stake's sports director, I am forced to watch many games and I've seen it all. We are just finishing up the volleyball season, and although it kept me extremely busy, the women's season was quite fun. However, the minute you transition into coed teams, the mentality totally changes. First, you've got the teams who walk into the gym complaining about everything from net height to warm-up time, you've got those who can't help but announce "I played college volleyball" (if they are not already wearing their 15 year old t-shirts or sweats from whatever school they played at, hoping someone will ask), those who for some reason think that they have to hit the ball as hard as they can right at those women who have never really played before, the guys who have got to open their mouth and put their 2 cents into any conversation (whether it involves them or not--especially if they "played college ball"), and, of course, those men that believe that no girl could possibly ever know the rules better than him! What's the deal--don't our men get enough validation in their lives? Congratulations--you can hit a ball through the block of that 50 year old woman on the other side of the net! You're unbelievably awesome!

Now, I'm all for winning. There is nothing wrong with wanting to win. But, this is church ball people! If you're team is winning by 20 points, you don't ask if you are allowed to jump serve, and you stop going all out trying to hit the ball at girls. It only makes you look like a jerk. And when you act like a jerk, just know that there is always a jerk on the other team as well, and that the two of you will eventually get into a fight. It's a given. Every village has an idiot.

I'm All Grown Up

So the response to my last post was a little disappointing. Props to my brother in law who is the only person to realize when something is truly funny--and that my blog does not just have to be cute pictures of my kids. As for the rest of you who are worried that I spend my hours at home dreaming of running away with celebrities--please don't worry, that's not ALL I do at home.

I guess I have officially become an adult. I don't know if I like it! I thought I was still young and hip enough to get away with things like celebrity crushes--obviously I'm not. I realize now that after you are married, with children, you can no longer have fun. It's serious business out there. I sincerely apologize for my reckless behavior. Additionally, I have revised my list to be more fitting to my age and role of mother and wife. I hope it makes you all happy, as I have conformed to the standards around me.

Steve Young

Donny Osmond

Bronco Mendenhall

Napoleon Dynamite

I'm feeling super excited about this list! Who knew there were so many good looking, worthy individuals out there to dream about. My dad would be so proud! Who needs Paul Walker when you've got Steve Young? (And, as Ross would put it, they're "local", even better).

Too Sexy

My aunts, uncles and cousins have been playing a game lately where we ask a question or decide on a topic of discussion and everyone emails their responses. It has been so much fun--we have listed favorite movies, vacation spots, things we want to do before we die, embarrassing moments and such. The other day it got me thinking about another "list". Any of you "Friends" fans out there remember the list that Ross made of his top 5 celebrity crushes. I admit, I have one, too (so do all of you, even if you deny it). My list changes every so often but here are the latest winners!

Kirk Herbstreit

Maksim Chmerkovsky

Paul Walker

Enrique Iglesias

Taylor Kitsch

There you have it. I realize that some of you may not know who a few of these guys are--that's okay. My list is just for me!

This is Halloween

Well, I have fed my addiction for the next couple of days, I think. This little adventure of mine took most of this evening, but it was so worth it! We had a blast today and couldn't have fit more in if we had tried. The girls are extremely happy tonight, and extremely exhausted. It feels as though Halloween has been going on for 2 weeks now, but we are sad to see it end!