{ the dahlin crew }

{ happy birthday }

2012-01-27T09:39:00.001-07:00

So I did a post about Berkley's party but not about her actual birthday! She's 3 now in case you didn't know. And she is pretty much the coolest kid ever. We have so much fun together, and she just cracks me up all the time. Of course she has her moments, but I think that comes with being a toddler...and a girl. I took her out the day of her birthday and got a few cute pictures of her. For those of you who see lots of pictures of Berkley, don't be deceived. It takes a huge effort to get her to even look at the camera...let alone look and smile.

{ snow day }

2012-01-23T18:07:00.000-07:00

I LOVE days where I don't have to go to work, and I can just sit in my house and watch the snow falling out the window. It's the best! What makes it better is seeing how happy Berkley is in the snow. She is a huge fan.

{ berkley's paris party }

2012-01-22T20:08:00.001-07:00

Berkley turned 3! Yes, I know...it's unbelievable that I have a 3 year old. I got a little nervous when it got closer to her little party, because she kept telling me that she wanted a princess cake. I had already had this all planned out, but didn't want to disappoint her at all, so on her actual birthday I got her an Ariel cake, and then proceeded to go forth with her Paris themed party...and as far as I know, she had a great time. So in my mind it was a success. We really did have so much fun! And I'm so thankful for all the family that was there. Here are some of things that we did.

{ storytelling }

2012-01-11T14:39:00.000-07:00

The BYU Bookstore has a storytelling time each Wednesday, and today was the first time that Berkley and I went. My friend Angela came too, with her two little boys. Taking toddlers to a crowded college campus isn't easy, but we had so much fun and were able to have a little lunch there. The kids were so good, and had so much fun. On our way out the building we saw a dance class taking place, so we stopped and watched them, and danced a little ourselves. We will definitely be going back.

This is Eson! Such a sweet boy!

Berkely making some kind of face. Don't know what exactly.

Anita was reading about a monkey and a crocodile.

The Princess and the Pig

Antonio was the monkey and Berkley was the crocodile. She's trying to eat the monkey!

{ new photography blog }

2011-05-18T12:58:00.002-06:00

I have a new photography blog! Check it out!

http://valoryjeanphotography.com/

{ festival of colors }

2011-03-28T18:15:00.000-06:00

On Saturday we went with some family to the Festival of Colors. It was SO much fun. The Krishna Temple is about 10 minutes from our home here in Spanish Fork, UT. The festival of colors is a Hindu holiday welcoming Spring. We got there about 30 minutes before the first chalk throwing and there were hundreds and hundreds of people there already! At 11am we had a countdown and on 1 everyone threw an INSANE amount of chalk up in the air. I could barely breath for about 60 seconds. But we had so much fun. We are so excited to go again next year.

{ the zoo }

2011-03-09T23:06:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, we went to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City, with Matt's family. We had such a great time, and we got SOO lucky with the weather! It was a beautiful day and Berkley had so much fun! Her favorite part was the playground though...not the most exciting for us...(me in particularly...I like animals more).

There were different kinds of birds just walking around the zoo free, which was kind of cool. Berkley really liked trying to pet them. But of course, like any smart animal would do, they just walked or ran from her presence. Here are some fun pictures from it!

Annie and Annie in the gopher holes.

Berk walking to Grandpa.

Watchin' the monkeys.

Huh?

Pretty bird.

Enjoying the gorillas.

Havin' fun with Daddy.

Loved the baby elephant!

Cute!

One of the many attempts at petting a goose.

Hubba hubba

Berk and Grandma

El tigre

Who's the hottie on the left?

{ happy 2nd birthday berkley }

2011-02-06T15:36:00.000-07:00

On January 19th, Berkley turned 2 years old!!! And let me tell you...she is 100% toddler! She is putting more words together to form half sentences. She likes to do everything by herself...she let's us know this by saying," I DO IT!!!" It's funny sometimes, sometimes, not so much. She is such a happy little person, which makes her so much fun to be around! She loves to laugh, play hide-n-seek, cook, watch movies, eat otter pops, share her snacks, color, play with stickers, build forts, count, sing songs, play with toys, and so many other wonderful things that makes her who she is. One funny thing that she does a lot is when she shares something of hers with someone else she turns to someone and says, "I nice." It's SOO cute! We (and when I say "we" I mean everyone who knows Berkley) love her to pieces and are so blessed to have her in our life. She is sweet and lovable and just the cutest little girl in the world.

Here are some pictures of Berkley being 2 and at her birthday party.

Post birthday festivities

All ready to party!

Berkley and her friend!

Party table.

Fun with family and the photo booth!

Berkley is scared of fire, so we got to blow out her candle.

Berkley and her Grandmas!

Berkley and her Grandpa!

Berk and Abue.

Fun with frames

Our goofy girl.

Pretty faces!

Berkley at Grandma and Grandpa's house...celebrating...again. :)

{ contest }

2011-01-31T13:45:00.000-07:00

My favorite photographer, Julie Parker, is giving away a free seat to her group mentoring session in March! But the thing is people have to vote on who gets it! So I'm up for the running! This would be such a great opportunity for me, and I've been wanting to do it since I found out she did these mentoring sessions, but with everything going on it just isn't in our budget. I would so appreciate it if anyone voted for me! Just click on the link and vote!

http://julieparkerphotography.blogspot.com/

The voting ends February 5th at 9am, so there is lots of time to vote and even tell your friends and family! Thanks so much! I will let everyone know how it turns out!!! Loves!

{ happy new year }

2011-01-10T23:11:00.001-07:00

2011 is here! Wow...that was fast. In less than 2 weeks our beautiful baby girl (more accurately should I say...beautiful toddler of a girl) is going to be 2! Yes, you read correctly...she is going to be 2! Are you as surprised as I am? Are you as excited for her party as I am? No, didn't think so.

So anyway...the new year. I'm not a big fan of new year resolutions...mainly because I never stick to them, and they are always the same as the year before...like exercise more, lose weight, blah, blahblah, blah, blah. Matt has finished his first semester of graduate school...way to go babe!!! He is very excited about this upcoming semester because he gets his very first client! Let the therapy begin!! And this summer he will be doing an internship somewhere, but it is yet to be determined where. I'm still working at a Residential Treatment Center, which I LOVE! And I'm still doing photography part-time, which has been amazing!

Berkley is as busy as can be. She is saying SO many words and putting them together now, which is very cool. She is very into pretending and that is lots of fun. She likes to build houses and doggie houses with her blocks, and then jump right into cooking with them. Her favorite flicks as of late are Buzz (Toy Story 3), Nemo (Finding Nemo) AND...that's pretty much it for now. So I'm sure you can imagine what lines I have stuck in my head all day...a personal fave, "There's a snake in my boots!". I just can't get rid of that line. Oh, well. Here are a few pics from the last couple weeks.

{ merry Christmas }

2010-12-23T22:21:00.000-07:00

Hello, wonderful friends and family! It's a couple days before Christmas and we are enjoying our wonderful family. My cousin Sarah got married on Tuesday and we have lots and lots of family from out of state here visiting. We are up at Dianne and Eric's right now and will be making our rounds of visiting family on Christmas Eve. We are excited to be here in Pleasant View on Christmas morning. Berkley is definitely figuring out opening presents, and that is pretty fun to watch.

We just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We love you all very much and pray that you will be safe and protected this Holiday Season.

{ catching up }

2010-12-19T21:57:00.000-07:00

It's December and finals are done for Matt!!! Whoop! It has been such a busy semester. And it's over! I'm working 2 jobs and Matt is doing full time school and Berkley is being a full time pain in our...just kidding...she's being amazing! She is talking so much more now. She is all about "Hanta" (Santa) and doggies and candy....really what kid isn't into candy? Really?

We are looking forward to having Christmas in Utah with lots of family and friends. My cousin Sarah is getting married on Tuesday in the Salt Lake Temple and we are so excited for them!

I've been trying to take more everyday pictures of Berkley and here are some that I've taken up till now this month. Enjoy!

me and my new bestie, amera

first big snow of the season

yogurt...

more yogurt...

{ ahhhh! }

2010-11-19T21:29:00.003-07:00

There seems to be a common theme in the last few blog posts...it's called procrastination. I really need to make a better effort.

Our life is pretty busy at the moment. Berkley is growing up too fast. Matt's finishing up his first semester at Graduate School. I'm working at a Residential Treatment Center for girls and we are just getting ready for the busy, but fun holiday season coming up.

Berkley is talking SO much and she seems to be acting more and more like a grown up each day! She loves her babies, yogurt, otter pops and Netflix (mainly Monsters Inc. and Annie at the moment).

{ the new house and of course, the berk }

2010-09-14T22:32:00.005-06:00

Well we have been in our new house for about a month and a half now. And it's wonderful! Love the house, love the neighbors, love my CLOSET! It's huge!!! Matt is doing great at school. He is liking his classmates, professors and only having to go to school 3 days a week. But he is definitely working hard! Berkley is loving our new place as well. She has lots of stairs to climb, which she can do all by herself with no supervision now. Still a bit nerve racking for me, but she is a PRO! She is seriously saying so much now!!! And the great thing is she is repeating things that we say and it's ADORABLE! Her favorite words are Mommy, Daddy, bubbles, doggy, and babies. She is also developing awesome manners. PEEZ (please), ANK U (thank you). Oh I could just melt from the cuteness! She also likes to give lots of kisses now. But only if you get an owee. If she bonks me accidently and I say OW! She will kiss me wherever she bonked me...seriously the best! She is just growing up too fast...Matt and I are just soaking up every second with her! Here are some recent pictures of the Berk...just for all of you!!!

{ moving }

2010-08-05T00:16:00.003-06:00

S-U-C-K-S!

Excuse the language...but it does. Don't get me wrong...I like the feeling of something new that lies ahead and the new adventures that are awaiting us...but can't I have all that without having to pack, clean, move, unpack, and clean some more? WHY??

Well, I guess that is just life and I'm going to have to deal with it. On a positive note, my dad is flying out here next week to help us move and that is going to be AWESOME!!! (Dad, I know you are going to read this, and just be prepared...I have no reservations about putting you to work when you get here!!! HAHAHA!!! Payback for all the work I had to do when I was a kid!!! HAHA!)

Oh, and for those of you who don't know...or just don't read our blog very often...Matt got into BYU's Social Work Graduate School, so we are moving to the Provo area in exactly 9 days! We are actually going to be living in my friend's home for about a year while her husband is in Iraq. She's moving in with her parents while he is gone and we are going to take care of their house!

So if anyone is going to be in the Spanish Fork area the 14th of August, feel free to come help us move in!!!

{18 month update }

2010-07-16T23:50:00.007-06:00

Seriously...where does all the time go? It can't have POSSIBLY been 18 months ago that I was pushing our little Berkley into this world. :) Sorry if that is too much...but seriously people...come on. She is and has been a toddler, in my mind at least, for a while now. And doing all sorts of toddler stuff. She tries to do somersaults which is pretty funny. I've seen her do one "real" one unassisted. I think she could do it better if she practiced more, but doing somersaults all day doesn't seem to interest her much. One thing that does interest her though are babies, babies and more babies. Whenever she sees a car seat she wants to look in it and see if the baby is there. We were able to spend a weekend with a friend who happened to have a 2 week old, and Berkley wanted to hold the baby several times, and she did with our assistance. It was pretty darn cute. And of course she loves babies that aren't real too. It is amazing to me that little girls just know what to do with a baby doll. They know how to rock it, feed it, take it for walks in the stroller...all the maternal stuff. And just when I don't think I could possibly be more amazed...she throws the baby on the floor and goes and does something else. Hmmmmm...we might have to work on that before baby #2 comes home with us. One recent development that Matt and I are both happy about is Berkley's amazing ability to sleep in. Except for very rare occurrences, (maybe twice) Berkley hasn't got up before 8 in the last 3 or 4 weeks. She has slept till 10 a couple of times and we couldn't have been more happy to get out of bed on those days. One last thing to note is Berkley's amazing arm. She is getting SO good at throwing! (that's my little softball player!) She throws just about everything...her favorite thing to throw is food, then balls, today she threw a bottle of ib profen and tums at me...and anything else she thinks would be funny to throw at Mom. (If you have an idea of when this phase might stop, please inform me so that I can be ready to throw a party in celebration of this stopping.)

Berkley is growing up so fast and I'm so grateful that I have something like a blog to help me write down and remember all the things that are going on. She is such an amazing little person, and we are so proud to be her parents. Happy 18 Months Berkley!!!!

SLEEP UPDATE: Vacation totally messed up Berkley's sleep schedule.

Here are some pictures of Berkley on our vacation to Lake Tahoe...she is getting so big!!!

{ my first wedding }

2010-07-05T22:18:00.004-06:00

I've been doing photography now for the last 6 or 7 months, and I'm absolutely LOVING IT! I've been mostly photographing families and couples, but this weekend I shot my first WEDDING!!! I can't even describe the amount of nervousness I had running through my body from the time I got off the plane in Seattle until I took those first few shots. Once I got going, I was a lot more relaxed, but I ran on adrenaline ALL DAY. I don't even think I ate anything for 8 or 9 hours straight....I was just going, going, going. But I had a blast! I was able to see my Mom, which is always a treat, and her and her friend, Patty, helped me a TON! I was so grateful that they were there. Note to self: never do a wedding all by myself...always have someone to help me. Anyway, I figured I would post a couple for you to see!

{ june fun }

2010-06-26T23:01:00.005-06:00

It's the end of June, and it's been a while since I blogged. We have done a lot this month! And next month is going to be twice as busy. The beginning of the month we celebrated my birthday and our anniversary by going away for 2 nights...without the Berk. It was the first time that she was without at least one of us for a night, let alone two...but Grandma had everything covered while we were gone. We've went rock climbing a couple of times, which is a seriously good time. And since the weather has been nice, we've spent a lot more time outside. Which just happens to be one of Berkley's favorite places...outside anywhere. Yesterday we finally got some new pictures taken! It originally was going to be a photo shoot of just Berkley, but then I figured we should just do a family one, since we will all be there, and we haven't had family pictures for a while. (Grandma once again came to the rescue and took pictures of us). WELL...it ended up mainly being a Matt and Val photo shoot. We got some cute ones of Berkley, but after about 5 minutes she was done with it, and then we tried family pics...that was over in about 1 minute...so then it was just Matt and I. Berkley walked around for a few minutes, but then we remembered the otter pops we brought. The 2 we brought kept her occupied the rest of the time. It was so fun to just take pictures with Matt! We hadn't done that for a while.
At the moment I can't remember anything else we have done that would be of interest to my fellow bloggers. But hopefully there will be another post soon, about our wonderfully crazy and fun life!

{ french braids and amen }

2010-06-02T20:57:00.004-06:00

Today was such a fun day with the Berk. She is starting to become so animated and spunky! She has now started demanding (yes, DEMANDING) breakfast immediately after she gets out of bed. Well, I wake up when she wakes up and I'm still not adjusted to cooking 2 minutes after I wake up. But that's what I did today. So, while I'm cooking her eggs (probably her favorite food, at the moment) I gave her some cheerios to keep her happy. She knows when her eggs are done and right when she sees me putting them on a plate she starts yelling for them. Like usual, I said, "Ok, time to say a prayer." And that didn't make her very happy. She started becoming more vocal that she wasn't getting her eggs immediately. But I just folded my arms, closed my eyes and said a quick prayer. About half way through she stopped talking, and when I said Amen and opened my eyes she had her arms folded and said, "AMA". IT WAS THE CUTEST! So I ran over to her and gave her a big hug and kiss and she seemed pretty pleased with herself.

Later in the morning I decided that I would try and french braid her hair for the first time. I had never attempted it before because 1. Her hair wasn't long enough and 2. because I thought I was just pushing my luck assuming that a 1 year old would sit still long enough for me to braid both sides. She is used to getting her hair done everyday, but it doesn't take that long. So I did it, and it wasn't perfect, but it sure looked cute!

We spent the rest of the day cleaning, playing, went on a walk, and even went over to the local fish hatchery and fed some fish. :)

{ oregon trip }

2010-05-31T11:11:00.007-06:00

Well, last weekend Berkley and I went to OREGON! It was busy, fun, exhausting...you know all the feelings that come with going on vacation and working at the same time. We had so much fun though! Saw so many friends I haven't seen in a really long time, and that was amazing. My brother and his cute little family came up from California and that was SO fun! Berkley LOVES Lila and she pretty much just followed her around everywhere. Super Cute! I did some photo shoots while I was there too, which was a blast! As usual! You can see the pictures on my FB page or here: http:valoryjeanphotography.blogspot.com
I just have one shoot up on my blog from Oregon, but the rest will be up soon!

Here are a few pics from the trip: Mainly of Berkley and Lila. :) (GRRRR! Photobucket won't resize my pics right, so there aren't as many here! Sorry

Silly girl!

{ new diet }

2010-05-15T23:45:00.003-06:00

SOOOOOOO...I have been having trouble losing my last 10 lbs, from the close to 40 lbs that I gained when I was pregnant with Berkley. I've exercised on and off...watched what I ate on and off...and just haven't really committed to anything for more than 2-4 weeks...If I did, I cheated a little bit in there sometime. I just seem to ALWAYS make exceptions. "Oh, it's so and so's birthday...I'll have a little cake." or "I hardly ever eat this, and I probably won't have it for a long time, I think I'll have seconds or thirds of it." It just always seems that I'm not totally committed and my will power has gone out the window. So now I'm trying a specific diet which is something I've never really done before. The nice thing is that it is all laid out for me and I know what I can and can't eat and the most important thing is that I have committed to do it. This is a little embarrassing, but I feel like I need to write it so that I'm responsible for the results and so that I can share it with everyone when I've finally reached my goal weight. Tonight, on my neighbor's scale, I was 142.4 lbs. And I'm hoping to loose another 10-15 lbs when I start trying to maintain and not lose anymore.

So...here I go.

I CAN'T STOP...

2010-05-10T22:03:00.001-06:00

Ok, so I'm a little obsessed with scrapbook kits now! They are SO much fun! So I finished making my blog background today and here is the 2nd one that I made today! I think I am going to have to stop for a few days...:)

AHHHH...PICTURES...

2010-05-10T14:46:00.002-06:00

Here are some pictures from April...mostly of Berkley, but we got in there once... :)

NEW BACKGROUND

2010-05-10T13:06:00.004-06:00

Over the last year I have learned A LOT about blogging, photoshop, photobucket and other online things. And each time I learn something new, I'm engrossed in it until I have what I want i.e. my blog looking a certain way. A while back I read up on how to make my pictures bigger and getting my pictures bigger was a breeze...getting them to fit on my blog right, wasn't. So I learned about HTML, which isn't the most exciting, but I finally got it to work. Yesterday I decided to find out how to make my own background, since all the free templates don't fit my blog right since it is a lot wider. So I found this website/blog and this lady had a whole tutorial on it! I was thrilled! She had a kit, but I downloaded a different one and just followed her steps. I have learned so much in the last 20 hours, it's amazing! I made the header as an afterthought and it turned out the way I wanted, so that was pretty fun too. So if you want to make your own background and you have photoshop, here is a GREAT tutorial!

http://www.kevinandamanda.com/whatsnew/tutorials/how-to-make-a-scrapbook-blog-background.html

BYU...HERE WE COME...

2010-05-09T01:18:00.003-06:00

Well, the Graduate school applications were sent in, and the acceptances came back and the winner is BYU Social Work!

Matt applied to 8 different graduate school programs and was accepted into 5 of them. We are SOOO proud of him and the hard work that he has put in to work and school. After a lot of pondering, weighing pros and cons, praying, fasting, thinking logically and a lot of worrying (mostly on my part), we decided that BYU would be the best school to attend. We are so excited about being back in the Provo area again where we have friends and family. We will be moving down to Spanish Fork the middle of August and Matt will start school August 30th. We will be there for at least 2 years, and are thrilled about this new and exciting time in our lives!

BAD + GOOD...ALL AT ONCE

2010-05-06T22:45:00.004-06:00

February 23, 2010....The last day of my last blog entry. That is pretty bad, even for me. Most of you don't know, but I teach the 16-18 year old girls at church and this Sunday's lesson is....JOURNALS! Yup, something I'm not very good at doing. I was doing ok with the blog, which I consider somewhat as a journal, but I haven't been doing very well have I? In my lesson it doesn't say anything about online journal options, and I think when we are talking about underage girls, that's probably a good thing, but I did want to bring up the option of a personal blog as a journal. For them I would stress the importance of keeping it totally private from anyone, but I thought I would get input from all you online bloggers about your thoughts and ideas about blogging or journaling and how it has been a blessing in your life.

I'm definitely grateful...even though I haven't shown it in the last couple of months...for blogs and how not only we can reconnect with people but how we can use it to look back on our day, week, or month and remember things in greater detail than we would normally if we hadn't written our thoughts and feelings down. I don't like making commitments that I don't think I will keep, but I need to make a commitment to myself to be better at writing in my journal and on my blog.

BERKLEY IS WALKING!

2010-02-23T20:07:00.003-07:00

Today I had the chance to stop by the house with the girls I nanny, and before Matt went to work, I decided we needed to practice walking with Berkley. After a couple of the usual tries, (Berkley walking by holding on to our finger, and then sitting down when we let go) she took a couple of steps! After that, she just took off! She was SO excited with herself! Ahhh...she is absolutely the cutest thing I have ever seen! We love her so much! I'm so grateful Matt and I both were there to experience this milestone with her! She is 13 months and 4 days old.

This video was taken about 5 minutes after her first steps...ENJOY!

BERKLEY'S 1ST BIRTHDAY PARTY!

2010-02-03T21:17:00.002-07:00

January 19th was Berkley's birthday and we had a birthday party for her on the 23rd of January. (I know, I'm a little late on the blogging.) It was SO much fun! We had lots of family and friends come for the occasion and Berkley loved it! We had cupcakes, tootsie pops, gum balls, jello, fruit, flowers, balloons, and streamers. I may have gone a TEENSY bit overboard on decorations, but it was so fun. Everyone that came was so generous giving Berkley such cute and fun gifts! She loves ALL of them. I still can't believe we have a 1 year old! She is an amazing, beautiful and wonderful little girl and we love her more than anything!

OUR FRIEND TY

2010-01-25T23:04:00.003-07:00

I guess this is more of a therapeutic blog entry for me. But I feel like I need to do something, while I am just sitting here at home thinking about my friend and brother Tyler.

I got a call from my mom on Friday night and I knew something was wrong when we started talking, and prepared myself for the worst. But nothing had prepared me for what she told me. My friend Tyler Graham had passed away earlier that day.

Ever since we have lived in Stayton, Oregon (1995) our lives have been intertwined with the Graham family. We all started out as friends and it grew from there into a family relationship. Tyler has always been like a little brother to me. He was so easy to like and love. If you saw Ty smile, there was no way that you couldn't smile. It was so infectious! He had the BIGGEST heart in the world. And had more love for animals than anyone I have ever met...I remember his baby skunk (that wasn't very nice), his ferret, his chinchilla, his 2 or 3 pugs, and probably a whole bunch more that I never had the pleasure of meeting.

Ty was one of a kind, and everyone who knew him knows what I mean. There just wasn't anyone like him. He always put a smile on your face and made you feel so good about yourself.

I have a lot of great memories of Ty, but ones that I will treasure the most came right after I came home from my mission. Him and Brolin were preparing to go on missions and I was trying to adjust back into everyday life. Many mornings we would meet and go out on the Graham's trampoline and have a morning scripture study. It was so fun telling them experiences I had and share with them my testimony of the Gospel and vice versa. Ty and Brolin really helped me to adjust back to normal life and I will be forever grateful for those times that we spent together laughing and just enjoying each others company. I'm so grateful that I have memories to look back on and remember Ty. He will be sorely missed by myself and so many other people.

Thank you Ty for always being yourself, and not being afraid to stand up for what you believe. Thank you for your testimony of the Gospel that brought the Spirit into so many people's lives. I love you and miss you so much!

http://tylermemorial.blogspot.com/ (here's a blog for Ty)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BERKLEY!!!

2010-01-17T23:57:00.004-07:00

We have had nothing but 12 months of pure AWESOMENESS! I am SO incredibly grateful for my beautiful daughter Berkley and how much joy she has brought into our lives. She continues to surprise me each day with how smart she is and how sweet she is. It has been truly amazing to watch her grow and learn. I love everything about her! She makes us laugh on a daily basis, and she is loved by everyone around her. So Happy 1st Birthday Berkley! We love you so much!

Here is a look back at the last 12 months! Enjoy!

MY NEW LOVE...

2010-01-13T21:10:00.004-07:00

So...I've always loved photography, but have recently decided to do it on a more professionsl level. Now...I have A LOT (A LOT) to learn, but I've been reading, practicing and will sometime in the near future shadow another photographer and learn a good deal more from her. I'm hoping to someday be able to do it full time and help contibute more to my family's income as well as do something that I love! I wanted to thank everyone who has encourgaged me and helped me. I did make a blog, so feel free to check it out once in a while...and if you know anyone who wants pictures taken...I don't charge very much! Lately I've just been doing couples and portraits, but am hoping to get better at family pictures. I just need a few willing subjects to practice on. :) Here's a link to my blog, but it is also over in the "blogs we dig" column.

http://valoryjeanphotography.blogspot.com/

PLEASE READ THIS FRIENDS!

2010-01-01T23:51:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone! Well I've been messing around with our blog layout and probably doing stuff I shouldn't with it...and in the process I lost nearly ALL of the blog of our friends and family. I have about 10 or so that I saved...So I need you to put your blog addresses in the comments for me so I can re-add them to our list! Thanks so much!!!

RUB-A-DUB-DUB

2010-01-01T21:55:00.007-07:00

CHRISTMAS VACATION

2009-12-29T19:59:00.014-07:00

Our Christmas vacation was anything but uneventful. We had an amazing time with our family! Right when we got there...within a span of about 20 minutes...we found out that my step-brother, Gregg, and his fiance, Morgan were going to have a baby...AND...they were getting married the next day. Putting together a small reception in the course of about 24 hours is a little tiring, but so much fun! Everything turned out great and everyone was really happy. The next day was Christmas Eve and we got some last minute shopping done and did a little cooking. Christmas day was pretty relaxed. I was able to take some pictures of Gregg and Morgan, which was so much fun. While we were there I also took pictures of Paul and Andrea. I've found that I really enjoy photography and hope to get a lot better at it.

We had an amazing time together. It's hard living so far away from family, but it really makes you enjoy and cherish the time that you do have together. I'm definitely grateful that we were able to go to California and spend time with our family. Of course I took some pictures while we were there...here are some.

Dad and Patty on the porch

Berkley and Lila in their Christmas dresses!

Abue and her girls

Dad and Oso

Gregg and Morgan

Paul and Andrea

Berkley and her Auntie Andrea

The girls and their horses

Berkley and a doll that she just adored!

Berkley's first time around horses

Lila and the Berk in the field

Wedding cake and cookies

Gregg and Morgan right before the wedding ceremony

Tubby time!

OUR LITTLE PIGGY

2009-12-13T13:20:00.003-07:00

Have you ever wished you had a 3rd hand? 2 hands not enough? Perhaps you have delightful cookie in your left hand, a tasty cracker in your right, but there are pieces of food still on the table. How can you control this problem? Well our child has figured out how to handle this situation. She is so smart...

10 + MONTHS= BERKLEY

2009-11-21T22:14:00.008-07:00

It just seems like yesterday that we wrote about Berkley turning 9 months old. And I know I sound like a broken record when I say,"She is getting so big, so fast!" The last time we took her to the doctor she weighed a little over 20 lbs and she is still pretty tall.
For awhile, she wasn't sleeping through the night and not getting much sleep, but I think we have pretty much solved that problem. She still wakes up sometimes, but is pretty much asleep from 7:30pm-7:00am. We LOVE it! And so does she! She is so happy in the mornings! She is starting to make more sounds and it is ADORABLE! She has started saying what sounds like,"dadada" and sometimes "yeahyeahyeah". She still doesn't want to walk but that's ok. She gets around just fine by crawling. She is eating a lot more of the food that we do, and is loving it! She still loves fruit and pretty much anything sweet...and vegetables.

FUN FACTS ABOUT BERKLEY

2009-11-06T18:20:00.005-07:00

Berkley and her new "OH" face

Having fun with Daddy

Looking pretty

In front of the fountain at the Ogden Temple

Another "OH" face

Berkley is just changing before our eyes and doing new tricks on a daily basis. She has officially discovered her tongue and is enjoying all the new sounds she is making with it. Aside from her new found growl, she is making an O shape with her lips and sometimes like to stick her tongue out at the same time. She is also licking everything that she can.

This isn't necessarily new, but whenever she wants more of something we have given her (ie. ice cream) she screams if she doesn't get it right away. It was sort of cute at first because she was expressing herself and I knew what it meant. It is sort of obnoxious now, especially if we are in public. Instead of this nice, sweet, quiet baby we have this nice, sweet, screaming if she doesn't get what she wants baby. We are working on the sign language action for "more". Hopefully she will get it down soon.

She is also OBSESSED with the outdoors. We now have to either sneak out of the house or leave very quickly, because she races toward the door if someone even looks like they are going out. The other day I left the door open and she was between the door and me, and she looks at me, and then turns on a dime and races to the door. I would just leave it open, but our screen door doesn't latch and she can just push it open to two cement steps.

One fun incident that happened yesterday. Matt was at his mom and dad's to drop Berkley off before work and decided she needed a diaper change. Well it's no secret that Berkley HATES getting her diaper changed. She tries to get out of it every time. So Matt let her roll onto her stomach and crawl around for a second.....Bad decision Daddy....Berkley started to pee. She got pee everywhere. And much to her enjoyment, got to have a second bath that day.

YAY for Halloween!

2009-10-31T22:42:00.003-06:00

It's just cruel that we are given an opportunity to dress our kids up any way we want and they can't say anything about it...of course until they reach a certain age. I hope everyone found cute costumes that their kids won't be upset about in the years to come when they see what you dressed them up as...and that includes Berkley. I think being a ladybug was extremely adorable, but we will see what she thinks when she gets older. She was in her costume for quite a while and did wonderful in it. We took her to see our neighbors and let her rome around in the grass like a real ladybug. Then we went up to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a photoshoot. She spent a good chunk of it being her serious self, but we got some good ones of her smiling. After we came home we went to our other neighbor's house to say hi and she gave Berkley a pumkin cookie, which she destroyed before we got home. No more trick or treating for her this year. Next year we will probably go to a few more houses, but as for this year her bed time was before everyone was out trick or treating. Actually the doorbell rang twice while I was trying to put her to bed.

(OH! And her second tooth showed up today! Right next to the other one!)

Our flying ladybug

Trying to get up her tree

Enjoying a pumpkin and some sawdust

The Family

THE 9 MONTH MARK!

2009-10-19T16:55:00.011-06:00

Berkley is 9 months old today! She is just growing so stinking fast! Here are some fun facts about the 9 month old Berkley McKay:

* she is now wearing 12 month clothes

* she has finally started crawling on her hands and knees (she seems to prefer the army crawl, but is slowly abandoning that)
* she is climbing up everything she can
*she is walking along all the couches
* she LOVES laughing and being tickled
* she eats anything that is put in front of her
* her favorite toys are electronics
* she likes to share her things with you
* she has moved from 2-3 naps to 1-2 naps each day
* she likes to make lots of noise, especially when she isn't getting what she wants
*she is feeding herself (with her fingers)
*she likes to go to the grocery store or any other public place and just stare at all the people
* her #1 favorite thing to do is go outside
* along with the last one, she LOVES her walks
* she lights up whenever Matt or I come home from being gone all day

* she has a tooth!
* and did I mention she LOVES electronics?

Here are a couple pics from today (check out her tooth!)

Here are some pictures from the last week or so.

BERK'S FIRST TOOTH!

2009-10-12T23:24:00.002-06:00

This week Berkley cut her first tooth! Wasn't so much fun the 2 days before it came, (it didn't feel very good coming out, poor thing) but once it was here we cheered! She is constantly feeling it with her tongue and putting her hands in her mouth to feel it. We even brushed it, and she seemed to like that. She smiled the whole time. (when I get a picture of the tooth I will post it)

She also climbed her first flight of stairs this week! She is growing up so fast! In the last few weeks she just seems to be progressing at an incredible rate. Everyday she does something new, and it usually involves her getting to a place that she hasn't before, and me trying to figure out how to somehow baby proof that part of the house. She also now knows that we are able to ban her to the living room, because we have a gate that blocks her from the rest of the house. When she is bored with the living room she crawls to the gate, stands up, and screams till she gets what she wants. Not a sad scream, but a "give me what I want" scream. It's kind of funny now....but when does it become not so funny?

But we couldn't have asked for a more wonderful daughter. She is so easy to be around and to please. She likes to play the "I'm going to get you!" game, and that is pretty hilarious. We just love her guts and can't believe she will be 9 months in a week!

UPDATE

2009-09-04T15:28:00.004-06:00

Matt:

Matt started back at Weber State University last week with a whole 6 credits! He has one actual class and he is doing research with the Head of the Psychology Department for 3 more credits. He is researching Youth Drug Abuse and Addictive Personalities. It will be a lot of work, but will help him in what he wants to do when he graduates. He will be taking the GRE (Graduate Record Exam) in September, and finishing applications to Grad School. On top of school he is still working at Crossroads Acadamy as a Staff/Mentor to kids that are in rehabilitation.

Val:

Well I'm not doing school (graduated a couple of years ago....whoohooo!) but I am working and being a mom. I'm working 2 days a week as a nanny for two energetic girls and a couple Saturdays a month as a personal trainer in SLC. (You'd think since I'm a personal trainer I'd be in a bit better shape, but I'm working on it.) I play volleyball twice a week for an hour or two, and I'm trying to exercise 3 or 4 days a week. I've started cooking again, which has been kind of fun. Matt's parents have an awesome garden so I have been trying to make recipes with vegetables I can get from their garden. Last week I made a chicken ravioli dish that had zucchini and red peppers with stuffed zucchini as a side. Other than that, nothing too exciting...just trying to keep a clean house and be a great mom.

Berkley:

Well Berkley is getting more and more mobile. She is army crawling everywhere! She gets into places I didn't think would interest her, but I was wrong. She likes to get things off the bookshelf, she crawls to the shoe mat by the door and tries to eat the shoes, and inbetween the furniture is especially interesting to her. We thought she wouldn't like the hardwood floors but we were wrong. So now I have to keep them extra clean so she isn't ALL dirty all the time. The other day I was in the bathroom and she crawled all the way from the living room to see what I was doing. I was surprised because she couldn't see me from the living room, but she knew where to go. She loves to stand and loves to walk. She is consistantly staying about 3 months ahead in clothes which has forced us to go and get some 9 and 12 month jammies. She is just growing so fast! The other day I was complaining about her not sleeping through the night anymore, but we are quickly on our way to fixing that problem. She still wakes up about once a night but goes back to sleep after a couple minutes of crying. I feel bad sometimes about just letting her cry, but I know she isn't hungry. If she was she would cry in the morning when she gets up, but instead she just looks at you and smiles. I think she is teething also. So we are anxiously awaiting her first teeth.

Well I think that is all that is going on with us right now. We are doing great and just enjoying all our time together!

Family Picture!

Cute little B

Playing outside in the grass

Playing with flowers

Sweet glasses!

Hangin with Grandpa in the hot tub.

7 MONTHS?! NO WAY!

2009-08-19T23:28:00.005-06:00

Our little Busy B is 7 months old today! Simply crazy! She is totally into walking...with assistance of course. She just holds on to your fingers and away she goes. She still isn't interested in crawling though. She's got turning in a 360 down though, on her tummy. She eats 3 solid food meals a day and lots of snacks inbetween. She is crazy about any food that she can eat. She is starting (very slow start but it's there) to drink out of a sipee cup which is nice. The faster I can get rid of these bottles the better! She doesn't get the whole concept of tipping it up to get the liquid out, but that will come in time. For now she just lies down and holds it.

She just had her first ear infection last week, which was not fun for anybody. Poor thing! I felt so bad for her! But she has recovered quickly. She is such a trooper.

We are loving every moment with her. She is so fun!

VACACIONES DE MEXICO (FOTOS)

2009-08-18T22:48:00.008-06:00

In Tia Coco and Uncle Bob's pool

Becky and Miche at Tio Marcos's house in Soto La Marina

Four generations of ladies

Hmmm...bananas

Berkley and Matt in Abuelos front yard

Abuelos with granddaughter Denise (Checo's daughter)

Sarita and Whitney

The biggest crab we caught

Matt and Berkley at the beach

Me and Berkley on the front porch of the beach house

Mom, Aaron, and Berkley

Matt and I at the Tampico Temple

Lunch by the market... 17 tortas, 15 drinks...less than $40

La Torta

Matt and I in Abuelo's yard

Becky, Matt, Gabe, Selene and I on top of Abuelos house

Matt buying a hot corn on the cob

All the grandkids who came to the beach house

Abuelita and her brothers and sisters

Tio Marcos, Tia Linda, Marquito, Alex and Roberto

Tio Marcos and Berkley

Tio Pepe and I

The Segura Family

Berkley and her cousin Denise

VACACIONES DE MEXICO (THE DETAILS)

2009-08-18T22:30:00.000-06:00

This will probably be the longest blog I have ever written….just a forewarning.

Tuesday, August 4th, we got up at 3:45am, and headed to the SL International Airport, to catch our flight to Corpus Christi, Texas. But of course there are no direct flights there, so we went via Phoenix, Arizona and Houston, Texas. We are always a little worried about how Berkley will be on the airplane, and she always amazes us. She sleeps most of the time, and has never had a problem with the change in pressure.

We got into Corpus Christi, which is my birthplace by the way, around 1:30pm. My Aunt and cousins were on the flight too, and we were picked up by my cousin Bryan and my Tia Coco. My mom’s sister lives in Corpus so we stayed at her house. When we got there we were met by loads of family that I haven’t seen in about 5 years. My cousin Bryan, his wife Kelly and their 2 daughters, Michelle and Lucy. My other cousin Bob, his wife Anna and their daughter Kristina. My cousin Sylvia, her husband Josh and their daughter Mya. My Aunt and Uncle, and their 2 kids at home at the moment (just got back from their missions within the last 2 months) Becky and Stephen. It was definitely a full house. We had a total of 18 people, including babies, stay at my Aunt and Uncle’s that night.

We had a very optimistic attitude about leaving for Mexico the next morning at 10am. Guess what didn’t happen. That many people getting up and getting ready, loading all their stuff into vans, getting fed…you get the picture. 12pm rolled around, and then 1pm. We then decided to just drive to the border that night, get our papers to cross and go across the next morning. And we did just that. It was dark by the time we got to the border to get our papers, which was a little scary. They have military guarding the borders with very big guns. And Matt being the funny guy he is, wanted a picture with one of them. So while at the border you have to register your vehicle, and you need to have your registration with you. Well one of the vans didn’t have the registration, so they had to go to the DMV in the morning to get a copy of the registration. They also had to take one of the vans into the mechanic to get a part fixed, which took a while. So we just stayed in the hotel and hung out with our cousins. We ended up leaving for Mexico around 3:30pm with a fixed vehicle and car registration.

I don’t know if any of you have ever driven in Mexico, but it is insane!! You pretty much have one and a half lanes on each side of the road, and the drivers are LOCO! Everyone is passing each other, and swerving and the road is bumpy anyway…it’s like being on a wooden roller coaster for 6 hours. If any of you haven’t experienced a wooden roller coaster, it is a very bumpy ride.

We stopped in a place called Soto la Marina, where one of my Tio Marcos lives with his family. They have a cute little house, with lots of dogs. They gave us some fresh mangos and our favorite soda pop, Esquis!

After we left Tio Marcos’s house, we had a 3 hour drive to Tampico, where my Abuelos live. I think we ended up arriving at there house around 11pm. My Tia Juanis, and her daughter Whitney were already there. They had flown in from Canada earlier in the day. My Tio Checo, was also there waiting for us. And of course Abuelita and Abuelito were anxiously waiting. Abuelita had made a big pot of posole, a Mexican soup, and had made some tamales for us. It was delicious of course. It was just the start of the amazing food we were going to have over the next few days. We slept about 19 people in my grandparents small two bedroom house.

The day after we arrived at my Grandparents, we packed up everyone and headed to the beach, where we stayed for 2 nights. We played in the water, played sand volleyball, soccer on the beach, caught crabs at night, had barbeques and played group games till early in the morning.

One of the days we went to the market to buy some souvenirs of our trip. It was very crowded, but a lot of fun. We picked up some good Mexican vanilla and a couple things of jewelry. We had lunch right down the street from the market and we had our first Torta. It is a sandwich on French bread filled with beans, 2 kinds of cheese, chorizo, avocado, onions, ham and I’m sure a couple more things. They were delicious!

On Sunday we went back to my Grandparents house and had a Segura (my Abuelita’s side) family reunion. About 73 people showed up and ate a great meal and just enjoyed each other’s company. I had taken a nap while everyone was showing up, so when I woke up I was set on finding Berkley and playing with her. Well I found her with one of the cousins that doesn’t speak English (only a few do), but she didn’t want to give her up. On the first try I just reached for her, but she made no move to hand Berk to me. So I waited a few more minutes and finally just took her. She made no effort to give her to me. Matt had told me he had had a similar experience earlier in the day, but he knew the Aunt that wanted to take Berkley.

Monday morning we got up early, had a great breakfast, packed up the van and made the 9 hour ride back to Corpus Christi, Texas. Berkley was such a trooper! She slept a lot of the time and played the rest. When we got back to Tia Coco and Uncle Bob’s house, Tio Pino and Sarai were waiting for us. They had a great dinner waiting for us on the barbeque. They had their daughter, Millie and their son, Jordan with them. They are just so cute. They next day we were leaving so we made the most of our last night in Texas and didn’t go to bed till about 4am.

We made it home safe and sound the next day.

NO TECHNOLOGY FOR A WEEK!

2009-07-31T00:53:00.003-06:00

What am I going to do?? This Tuesday morning at 6:45am, we (Matt, Berkley, my mom, Aunt and 2 cousins and I) will be on a plane to Corpus Christi, TX. Then Wednesday we will make the 9-10 hour drive to Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Seriously...what am I going to do without Facebook, Etsy, email, Hulu, Youtube and Blogspot for a week?! I guess it will be a nice break, but I have a feeling I'm going to be so happy to get back to my computer. :) What has technology done to us? I didn't write a paper on a computer till my junior or senior year of high school, I didn't have email till my freshman year of college (2000-2001), I didn't have a digital camera till 1/3 through my mission (2005) and I didn't know about photo editing, youtube, blogs and other things till I got engaged and married to my way technology savvy husband....WOW....I've come a long way. I give ALL the credit to Matt. Well we will update when we get back and hopefully tell you all the awesome things that happened on our vacation!

PUTTING YOUR FOOT IN YOUR MOUTH

2009-07-27T00:50:00.001-06:00

We've all put our foot in our mouth metaphorically, but my little girl does it several times a day physically.

(I am sure all kids do this, we just wanted to throw a short video up as a test run on blogger for our first time)

SUNRIVER, OREGON

2009-07-24T12:43:00.004-06:00

Lila being a good cousin and pushing Berkley in her stroller.

Grandpa and Grandma hanging with Berkley at the lake.

Daddy and Berkley having a swim.

Grandpa and his girls.

Lila and her favorite Aunt Val.

Patty's sister, Annie, and her 70th birthday cake.

The before picture of our float down the river. It was so much fun!

Best Buds.

Good times at the pool.

We had such a great time in Oregon. It was 3 whole days of pure fun, enjoyment and amazing food. We feel truly blessed to be in such a great and fun family. We played lots of games, floated down the river, went on paddle boats and kayaks, went shopping, ate a lot and just enjoyed our family. It was the first time Berkley met Paul, Andrea, Lila, Morgan and Gregg. She loves them all. We can't wait to do it again sometime.

BERKLEY IS HALF A YEAR OLD!

2009-07-24T01:01:00.004-06:00

Berkley had her 6 month checkup on Wednesday, which was bitter sweet. I always hate it when she has to get her shots, but it's nice finding out that she is as healthy as a horse. She weighs 17 lbs. and is almost 27 inches long. She is a growing girl. As you can tell from the picture, she is sitting up on her own. She is also grabbing everything in site and sticking it in her mouth. She loves to watch people cough...she thinks it is hilarious! We just love being with her. Her little personality is coming out, and she just makes us smile.

NEW CRAFTS!

2009-07-12T23:09:00.004-06:00

So, a few weeks ago I went crazy on the crafts for Berkley's room. Here are some pictures!

I cut out and glued a piece of scrapbook paper to this door hanger and sanded the edges. Then just put stickers on it.

I did the same thing with these letters. Just scrapbook paper, glue and sandpaper.

Here is the end result. I also painted and sanded the shelf. I made the little hanging words also. I did it the same way I did everything else. Scrapbook paper and sandpaper is AWESOME! I definitely have to thank my step-mom Patty for the gift card to Michaels. I did all this from that.

Volleyball Tournament

2009-07-11T20:12:00.005-06:00

Saturday the 11th of July a friend, Mel, and I participated in an outdoor volleyball tournament. We had so much fun! Since we had never played two's together, we entered into the novice division, and won! We were first in our pool, and then won 2 games in bracket play to win the tourney. We each got a $25 gift card to Wal-Mart, which is pretty cool. We are hoping to play in Park City in a couple weeks. We will enter into the B Division so it will be a little bit more challenging but I think we will do pretty good.

I'm really excited for these tournaments, because it will be a challenge for sure. It's hard for me to play and rest, then play, then rest, for 5 or 6 hours. But I'm thankful for the challenge.

SUPER SERIOUS

2009-07-03T15:29:00.006-06:00

So I decided to take Berkley outside to take some pictures and I think she smiled about twice. So I've dubbed this her Super Serious PhotoShoot.

TIPS WANTED

2009-07-02T20:52:00.002-06:00

So as you all know, Matt and I are new parents, and with that we are learning as we go. We have discovered a lot of tips, I guess you could say, that has made our parenting a little easier. Such as, rocking or bouncing Berk to sleep on an exercise ball and teaching her to hold her bottle at a young age. I understand that every baby and child is different, but I thought it would be nice to hear everyone else's ideas and things that have worked for them. If you get a chance, share a few with us and hopefully we will be able to try a few and see if they work with Berkley. Here is a list of things things that I figured people would have tips on (not all of these apply to us at the moment, but we will keep them in mind): Weening from bottle and binkie, potty training, tantrums, being nice to siblings, and whatever else you might think we need to know or try when the time comes. Thanks so much for whatever your input is!

WYOMING!

2009-06-29T09:41:00.005-06:00

2 weekends ago we went to Wyoming with Matt's family and just had a blast! We saw lots of wildlife, went fishing, went on the Seadoo's and just had a great time. It was Berkley's first trip and she did so good! It was a 4.5 hour car ride and she took it like a pro. It was her longest drive in the car to date. The first night we were there, Dianne's brother and his family was there. They have a 3 wonderful kids. Oakley, the youngest, is 2 and she just had a great time playing with Berkley. I think they are going to be buds.

Berk and I chillin in the swinging chair. She loved it!

Annie catching a fish at the beaver pond.

While we were at the local grocery store, these Mountain Men came in. I guess they are totally real. I thought they were dressed up for some reinactment, but I think I was wrong. They came in carrying their shotguns, which I didn't realize at first because I was staring at their clothes. We saw them again in the parking lot, riding away on their horses. Good times in Wyoming.

Matt and I riding on the Seadoo.

It was so much fun spending time with our family and just getting away from everyday life for a few days.

THE BERK IS 5 MONTHS!

2009-06-28T19:22:00.001-06:00

On the 19th of June, Berkley turned 5 months old! I can't believe how big she is getting! She is now holding her own bottle, eating lots of fruit and baby food, and she is sort of trying to roll over. She giggles and laughs all the time and loves playing in her jungle jumparoo. We have so much fun with her. Her personality is starting to show more, and she is just a joy to be around. It seems each month just gets more and more fun. We love her!!!

4 MONTHS! WOW!

2009-05-27T18:47:00.003-06:00

Berkley was 4 months old on the 19th of May. She is getting so big!! We love her wonderful personality. She is so good about letting other people hold her, and she is smiling all the time. She has just started grabbing her feet, which is SO CUTE! At her doctors visit she weighed 13 lbs. 11 oz. And was 25 inches long. She is so healthy, which is just wonderful. We went outside today for a little photo shoot and got some cute pics. The ones in the collage are 4 of about 40 or so. We are enjoying every second with her. She is just the best!

2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

2009-05-19T09:55:00.003-06:00

Today is our 2 year wedding anniversary! I can't even believe it. We were discussing this morning how in some ways it seems longer and in other ways it doesn't. I love Matt more everyday, which seems impossible when I'm in the present, but it happens somehow. Actually I do know how. Everyday he makes me smile and laugh. Everyday he tells me how much he loves me. Everyday he shows me what a wonderful dad he is, and almost every night we just lay in bed and talk about life. I have been blessed a million times over since Matt came into my life. First as a good friend and then as my best friend, and then as my husband. And to top it off, Matt got me diamond earrings for our anniversary!!! I was totally blown away! And man are they gorgeous!!

PHOTOBOOK

2009-05-03T22:11:00.003-06:00

I'm making a Tribute Photobook for my grandparents 55th wedding anniversary and I have been asking for old photos from my relatives. Here are some that I thought I would share.

Tia Juanis, some guy, my hot mom, and Tia Mely at Tia Coco's wedding.

Tia Mely, me and my brother Paul. How cute are we?!

Most of my mom's family. I'm on someone's shoulders.

My sexy Grandma and two of her kiddos. Pretty sure my Tia Mely and Tio Checo.

Just chillin topless with my Pops.

THEY SCARE ME

2009-05-03T17:13:00.010-06:00

We have all seen them on cable TV commercials (which I have been watching all weekend while house sitting for my parents), we've all laughed at them, and I am sure we have all thought what I am about to say, which possibly puts this post at risk for being un-original. I think the makers and customers who purchase "Snuggies" must be members of a cult. The commercial (which can be seen HERE) is creepy. Sure they seem very happy, perhaps do to special Kool-Aid, but I also get the feeling they worship Satan. Now the part where they are all having fun as a family slapping hands at a sporting event shows these people are probably some of the more fun worshipers of Satan and that they know how to have a good time, but I still don't want anything to do with them. Now perhaps saying they worship Satan is a bit much. But comparing these two pictures proves that they do work as a guard for the Dark Sith Lord known as The Emperor on Star Wars.
But in reality folks, whether they worship Lucifer or The Emperor, they really are just wearing backwards bath robes. What a rad product.

BERKLY IS 3 MONTHS OLD!!

2009-04-20T20:38:00.006-06:00

These are the wonderful, awesome and cute things Berkley is doing: sitting up in her BUMBO. Having conversations with Daddy. Sleeping with her doll. Flipping people off. Going on walks. Laughing. Crying. Enjoying naked time. She never ceases to amaze us and make us smile. She is sleeping between 7 and 9 hours each nite, which is AMAZING! We just love her that much more. Soon she will just be hanging out in her swim suit. I can't wait!

EASTER!

2009-04-12T21:30:00.005-06:00

What a great Easter day! (Except for the major headache and upset stomach) We had a lot of fun being with family and dressing up Berkley. She had her cute Easter dress that Grandpa Luther and Grandma Patty bought for her. She just looked adorable! We took about a hundred pictures of course.

After church we went up to Eric and Dianne's and got our Easter baskets. Annie and I got the best present! Dianne bought us all tickets to the Keith Urban concert in September!!! I'm so stoked!

Next we drove on over to Sam and Mel's and had dinner and watched the little kids hunt Easter eggs. We even read some scriptures about the Savior and had a nice time talking about the true meaning of Easter. I know, Easter isn't really about bunnies and eggs....who knew :) I hope everyone was able to spend their Easter having fun and reflecting on what we are really celebrating today...the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

VOLLEYBALL

2009-04-10T23:27:00.003-06:00

I've started playing volleyball twice a week. Some women from around the area get together at my church Wednesday and Friday mornings and play for 2 hours. Probably the best thing since playing softball. I always have a blast. One of the great things about it, is most of the women have to bring their kids that are not school age, so there is always a lot of,"Mommy! Get down!" meaning I want to get off the stage and I'm too little to do it myself. And there is,"Mommy! I go potty!" Which usually means that they haven't gone yet but they are about to.

So today I get there and we start warming up and playing our first game and I see one of the mom's leaving the court to go get her son. And I see her wrapping him in a big gray sweatshirt. That doesn't stay on long and I realize he is butt naked from the waist down. He had a bit of an accident and no other clothes to put him in. Well this particular little boy, who is super cute by the way, loves Berkley. So him and his half naked self decided to keep her company for a little bit while I played. Later on I looked in the play room (just an extention of the gym blocked off by an "on it's side" table) and I see tons of kids playing, and then I see this little boy. Playing like he had all his clothes on, but he didn't. Just a t-shirt and I bet you can imagine what he looked like.

So needless to say, it's never boring at volleyball.

One Subject: Furry Creatures. Two Topics: WTWTA and Tauntauns

2009-04-05T18:09:00.006-06:00

Topic One: Where the Wild Things Are

I loved this book as a kid and I am sure you do too. If not, then you now have the answer to the question you've been asking yourself, "Why was my childhood so screwed up?". It will be out soon in theatres and I am very excited for it, but worried. Spike Jonze has put his unique style into making this film and I want to think that it will be amazing. The trailer looks amazing (check it out for yourself by clicking on this link: WTWTA TRAILER). The music in the trailer is amazing. But what if the movie is not amazing? What if he takes something so great and ruins it, like the person who took TV and ruined it from the hours of 10am-4pm. Let us all keep our fingers crossed that it will be instant classic just as the book is.

Topic Two: Tauntaun Sleeping Bag
Now this is one thing I am not skeptical about. Who ever decided to make one of these has my full support in any product they market. I was a huge Star Wars fan as a child, and yes I still like them now (Not episode #1 and #2 though, that little Anikan was a entitled douche bag baby). This Tauntaun Sleeping bag is right off the planet out Hoth from the film "The Empire Strikes Back." If that doesn't ring your memory enough, this was the creature Han Solo sliced open with a light sabre and put Luke Skywalker in to save his life from the sub zero temperatures (look at the inner lining of the sleeping bag, its the Tauntauns intestines!). As of right now I think Berkley is too small to sleep in one of these, and unfortunately after reading the measurements I am too tall. But for anyone between Berkley's size and mine, I suggest snagging one of these when they actually go on sale (as of right now its just an idea, and George Lucas needs to give it the OK since his company didn't think of it). So keep your fingers crossed kiddies because this one be one Bad A Christmas gift.

Addicted to Crafts

2009-03-29T21:38:00.018-06:00

Here is my cute magnet board. It is tin and under the paper is a picture of Santa. At Young Women's, we made these. We picked our paper and glued it on. I took it up to Dianne's, who by the way has so many cool craft/scrapbook stuff, and finished it. Glued on the flowers, the FAMILY, and the D. It's going to go in our living room by the door so we can put notes and whatever else we want on it.
This was my next project. I found a cute box at Walmart and brought it back to Dianne's and WALA! I made a cute box for Berkley. Right now it is just holding all her hair things, but when she is older I like to think she will put toys and special things in it. I just used scrapbook paper for the outside and in the inside I decorated it with stickers.

They All Cause Cancer!

2009-03-27T14:28:00.005-06:00

I often have weird thoughts or ideas that cross my mind while driving to school or sitting in school, or when ever else I am bored. Normally I discard them, but now, now I have a Blog! So here is my genius thought that came to mind this morning.

The sun that we all apparently rotate around is a yellow dwarf, you know, a star in scientific astrology-nerd terms. Turns out it causes cancer. But I am not here to talk about this yellow dwarf or any of snow whites friends. I am here to say, without any scientific evidence to back it up (I looked online...nothing there), that all the stars that shine down on us at night are killing us too! That's right folks, we all go out at night and have fun partying, jogging, and laying on the grass looking up at hundreds of faraway suns, all working together, very slowly, to give us cancer!

So in these tough economic times, I'm looking for some extra dough, and I have come up with the best idea ever! STARSCREEN! (not to be mixed up with Star Scream of Transformers). Put it on at night when you go jogging or star gazing (which is like staring at the sun! Dangerous!).It will keep you safe from the hundreds of cancer causing bright lights in the sky! For a cheap price I will sell it to you, your friends, and your family. As a good American you should tell them about this, to keep them safe.

So please purchase this once in a lifetime product, by sending me an email or leaving me a comment to get in contact with you about buying this SPF 1 (any SPF level higher would be ridiculous) star safety lotion.

Now in 2 classy scents: Midnight Musk and Lady of the Night.

We Got A New, Hot, Sleek, Sexy...

2009-03-26T12:14:00.017-06:00

CAMERA!

A couple weeks ago we lost our camera to a crooked no good thief. I am sure they have gotten whats coming to them... But that's really not our problem anymore.

(I wish the camera could take a picture of its self, but besides that, it does it all!)

My dad (Eric Dahlin) made a very nice "donation" to the Matt and Val Foundation for a New Camera. Val and I are now snapping the best pictures of our lives with the new Sony Cybershot DSC-H50. OK so its not as nice as a professional's camera, but as far as we can tell its about a step below. It's 1080i HD, 9.1mega pixels, can zoom like no bodies business, has a 3 inch LCD screen that even pops out (not really sure why) and even allows you to upload 8 mp3's for your slide shows right there on the camera. There are other rad things about the camera, but I just can't think of them, except the picture quality is phenomenal.
A few recent pictures with our new toy (they dont come up in HD on this no good blogger...):

(From our front yard)

(Bath Time)

(This is growing out of our house)

(Check out them eye lashes!)

So overall Val and I are very pleased with this purchase and it is way easier to see the bright side of getting your stuff stolen.

Berkley at 8 weeks!

2009-03-19T20:53:00.009-06:00

She is getting so big! These are pics from Grandma's camera. I'm pretty sure Grandma has close to 1000+ pictures of Berkley. No complaining here though. I love pictures! She is pretty happy most of the time. She is reacting to us so much now, I love it! Being a parent just rocks!

Berkley's 2 Month Appointment

2009-03-18T18:16:00.004-06:00

Since I can't think of anything funnier than Matt's last post, I'm going to be updating everyone on how Berkley is doing. I took her to her 2 month appointment today and she weighs 11 lbs 8 oz. She is now almost 23 inches long. When she was born she was 7 lbs. 1 oz and 20 inches long.

The Dr says she is looking good and is healthy. I knew all this going in, but it's nice to have it confirmed by a professional. The lame part of the trip came at the end. She had her vaccinations also today, which was just as hard for me as it was for her. She's not much of a cryer, but she did not like those shots. She had 2 in one leg and 1 in the other. So it made me a little teary eyed seeing her cry like that. Next time I think I'm going to let Matt take her. Too bad I can't take a picture of her today. If you have forgotten, my camera was in our backpack that was stolen. I'm still a little bitter, but our new camera comes in the next week or so! WOOHOO!

My Recent Science Project

2009-03-16T20:51:00.011-06:00

Here is the basic layout to the Scientific Method which I am sure we all learned at some influential part in our childhood years. After fifteen more years I have finally used it in real life. During my experiment I learned something, I hope you will too.

DISCLAIMER: The nature of the experiment does contain graphic content, reader beware.

OBSERVATION:
While Berkley is drinking from her bottle (which is practically all the time) she stops sucking on the nipple when she begins to push out a poop. She then resumes sucking without pushing, but soon stops to push again. She doesn't ever seem to be able to do both at the same time.

QUESTION:
Is it possible to push out a deuce and drink at the exact same time (not meaning one than the other)?

HYPOTHESIS:
Hypothesis #1 - An adult can easily do both at the same time, but Berkley struggles as she is still learning how to control her body.
Hypothesis #2 - The body can only go one way at a time, i.e. pushing stuff out or allowing stuff in. But not both at the exact same time.

EXPERIMENT:
I filled a large orange cup with water, went to my laboratory, situated my clothing, and sat down on the can. At first I took a drink of my water, then tried to complete my business while still drinking. I found this to be difficult. I continued to drink and attempt to complete my mission but found it physically confusing. After 2 minutes of trying to do these tasks simultaneously I realized it is not possible. Plus, it is a horrible experience to try to consume things through the mouth while that foul smell seems to be seeping into the very liquid I was drinking.

ACCEPT OR REJECT HYPOTHESIS:
Hypothesis #1 - Incorrect
Hypothesis #2 - Correct, the body can not do both at the exact same time, but it can with even a 1 second break between each function.

FUTURE RESEARCH:
I ask others, in the name of science, to attempt this for themselves and get back to me. I ask this because the experimental population so far is only Berkley and I. Perhaps it is a handicap in the Dahlin genes, not to be able to perform a task like this. Science thanks you for your help and so do misunderstood babies who are trying to do more than one thing at a time.

Who is the low life scum bag who stole our backpack!?

2009-03-15T21:53:00.006-06:00

I hope no one has had to go through getting something stolen from them, and until now I hadn't. We took a nice family vacation to Oregon last Wednesday, and were having such a lovely time, up until we picked up our bags in baggage claim at the Portland International Airport. We had 3 checked bags, a diaper bag, and a backpack (which contained....uhem....a black hoodie, an ipod shuffle and headphones, my planner, our SONY digital camera and MY WALLET!) I think I could punch the person right in the throat if I ever came face to face with them. We either left it where we sat to wait for our ride, or someone snatched it and we just didn't notice. But either way, by the time I had called my bank (2 hours later, because we didn't notice it was gone until we got to my mom's and after I called the airport) the criminal had made 5 purchases on my credit and debit cards! And what's worse, if it could possibly get worse, is that my idiot self kept my Social Security card in my wallet too. And I know what some of you are thinking, "How could she do that!? That's not good." and others of you are thinking, "Man, I carry my Social Security card in my wallet too." Well a little advice to those that do, "Don't do it". Take it out right now and keep it somewhere safe at your house. So I will forever be checking my credit report every year, for a long time. Needless to say I spent a very long time on the phone cancelling things and filing a police report. Well I could go on and on about all the stuff I had to do on my vacation, but I learned that to fully enjoy something, you have to let go and not think about the things you can't control. After the 2nd day I was in Oregon, I did all I could do, and I just kicked back and enjoyed my family and have tried not to think about it till now. So....always check you have every bag before you leave the airport.

My beef with Monopoly

2009-03-10T16:40:00.004-06:00

So this week at work I've been playing a lot of Monopoly with the boys and there are a few things that bother me about this game. Yes I am getting paid to play Monopoly, as well as snowboard, skate, watch movies, and have awesome discussions with teenage boys. But I digress, lets get back to the things that bother me about this game. It's not even the annoying fact that the game takes 2+ hours to finish, but its all the little things about the game or the way people want to play it. No one really knows the rules to this game, perhaps they read them once and say they do, but every single person has their own twist ($400 for landing on go, $500 for landing on free parking, not having to pick up a chance card if you dont want to take a chance, putting more hotels on a property than 1, auctioning if no one wants to buy the property, trading out of turn, making bogus deals to help one friend and screw the other, etc...). Their is a chance I am mistaken, but I dont like that old Mr. Moneybags has lost the monocle on his one eye. But now it is as if he now has had laser surgery and doesnt need it anymore. But the most annoying part of playing this game (yes maybe I'm a bit anal and I just need to relax, but hey this is my blog) is when someone has to count every single space every time to see where they go after they roll the dice, especially if they rolled a 10! C'mon! The board is 10 by 10, it shouldnt be that hard to just pick your little dog up and move it to where it goes with out having to click each space with your silver puppy. But on a positive note, I haven't lost at work yet.

I can't believe my baby is almost 7 weeks old!

2009-03-07T21:47:00.007-07:00

I just can't resist taking a ton of pictures of her. This collage is of two different days and faces. I actually have to give credit to Kirsten Bingham. I saw her do this with her little girl and I loved it!

I just can't believe how much she has grown! Her little personality is starting to come to the surface, and I love it! She is smiling so much and is just the best baby. She loves getting her hands clapped together and she loves giving kisses. Well not the traditional kind. She likes to open her mouth wide open when you kiss her anywhere on the face. We are just so blessed to have such an angel for a daughter.

Oh snap!

2009-03-07T09:32:00.003-07:00

So I have a nanny job (for those of you who don't know). And the other day I was playing Memory with the 5 year old. Who by the way, is very aware for her age, and doesn't miss much. She asks a lot of questions, and is a quick learner. So every time I got a match she exclaims," Oh, snap!" It took me back the first couple of times she said it, but then I got a flashback of me saying it about 2 months ago, and then trying to explain what it meant. Well she remembered, and it is probably one of the best things that she says.

Berkley McKay Dahlin

2009-03-06T21:43:00.003-07:00

These are Berkley's first 4 days jammed into minutes. And its Val's nine months jammed into seconds.

Why Blog?

2009-03-03T22:39:00.007-07:00

So what is it that makes blogging so popular? (man, can you imagine how many articles have started off this way...sorry for the lack of originality) I've never really known much about it, but I would like to. I mean for a guy who has spent countless hours on computer stuff, I really don't know about it. So I've started reading some random "weblogs" on the Internet.

From what I've gathered there are good reasons to blog, dumb reasons to blog, and other reasons to blog. I think some people just want to be heard by strangers all over the world. Then there are others that have a huge following. Others want to discuss the news and politics which can even be done on a "tvblog." Many people seem to want to write about their favorite TV show, Movie, or Comedian. Some people seem to be looking for input on their personal dilemmas. Others want their family or friends to be able to follow what is going on in their life (which I think is a good thing). There are businesses that blog and even creepy people that blog. Some people want to share all they know about cats (which I also find sometimes creepy, you know those ladies with 8 cats... so gross) or toaster ovens. There is just so much to blog about and so many "bloggers."

I think I want to try blogging for a few reasons. One, to keep a journal of some sort of my life. I can copy and paste the interesting or memorable things my wife and I write about to a word program and keep pretty nice records of our lives (I've been told have a journal to look back on is really helpful and interesting). I also like telling stories about my life, so perhaps the few people that one day read my blog will find it interesting or at least amusing. I also think, after discussing it with my brother, it could give me a stronger desire to go out and do something (fun, exciting, new...), because without doing something, what the hell are you going to blog about right? And I am sure that over time I will find new reasons to blog. But mostly, I think I want to try this blogging, just to see what its really all about and see if I catch on to this new phenomenon (that has apparently been around since 1999).