Pumpkin Carving 2010

Well, we finally got around to pumpkin carving! I feel like this month has flown by and that we haven't done very many festive things, so I was grateful to get our carving on! This year I decided to use stencils for our pumpkins and I'm hooked for life now! I carved the coolest pumpkin of my life (Ronnie helped when my hands got too tired) and Ronnie did a really sweet one too! The picture with all of the pumpkins in order is : Mine, my Dads, Stephanie's, Chloe's, Ronnie's and Meg's. My Mom painted hers, so it isn't in the line up. We all had a great time, except for Chloe who had a total melt down when my Dad touched her with the pumpkin guts. She was definitely not a fan :( Maybe next year!

Last Halloween...

This Halloween! What a difference a year can make!

11 Months Old

I know I've been told this probably a bijillion times, but it's true. Kids grow up WAY too fast and our Chloe bug is no exception! She is SO goofy and full of personality! Here's a bit about Chloe:

*Pulling herself up on everything and since she's really tall for her age (or so the dr. tells me) she can reach a lot farther than I estimate, so she's a little trouble maker!

*She gives us kisses (when she feels like it)!

*She loves going down slides

*Still LOVES doggies

*Put both arms out (kind of like shrugging shoulders) when I say "All Gone" when she's done eating.

*Is starting to not be afraid of the vacuum

*Is having a bit of a hitting problem...

*Loves to talk on the phone and will say "Hu-doe" to her pretend phone (aka her hand). Whenever she hears a phone ring she says "Nana", because we usually call Nana.

*Walks around like crazy if you hold her hands

*Yanks out her pony tail and bow atleast 5 times a day

*Zones out just like her Mama :)

*Her favorite baby food is Bananas

*Her favorite big person food is Chef Boyarde

*Gives really good hugs

*Plays favorites and teases people when they want to hold her by holding really tight to the person that has her

I could seriously go on and on about this little girl! She is so darn cool and super smart! I love hanging out with her every day! She has been such a trooper since I started taking her to work (day care) with me and is really good at playing. She is my little buddy and I love her to pieces and know that her Daddy does too!

PBL

So this is a bit old...as in first week of school old, but I thought I'd still share :) This year is Ronnie's senior year in college and he was chosen to be the PBL president (it's a business club and the letters stand for something Greek...no idea)! So to kick off the year there was a school carnival and the PBL club did a cotton candy booth. Chloe loved the cotton candy and we even got to watch fireworks!

Pack Your Bags Cricke-We're Movin' Out!

If someone would have asked me the fall of my Senior year in high school, if my five year plan included getting married, having a baby, and moving to China I probably would have laughed and said "that's not quite what I had in mind". In fact, my five year plan could not be more opposite than the way my life has turned out. I was NOT going to get married at age 19. I was going to go to hair school or nanny on the east coast. I was going to move far away and be a mega big hair dresser in NYC, and then I was going to serve a mission. I wasn't going to get married until atleast 23, when I got back from said mission. Well, if you know me (and you should if you're reading this, since my blog is PRIVATE), you know that my life didn't turn out quite the way that I planned it-it turned out better!

I got married 3 months after I turned 19 to the most handsome man ever, managed an apartment complex, finally made it to hair school, had a a gorgeous baby girl and never left my hometown (much to my Mother's delight!), until now. In January 2011, we will be moving to Beijing, China!!!
Some of you may be thinking "why China?". Well, I'll tell you-Ronnie went on a Mandarin speaking mission to Montreal, Canada and decided that he wanted to work with the Chinese for the rest of his life, so the only logical career choice was International Business. He's two semesters away from completing his Bachelors in Communication (including this semester) and then he will move on to SUU to get his Masters in International Business.

Well, along the way, he's been working with the international "branch" of the college that just brought 20 Chinese students to DSC and received an offer from an International Student Agency in China last Thursday to do an internship, in China! This was seriously, the moment he's been waiting for since he returned from his mission and we could not be more excited!

So we'll be moving in with my parents October 1st, so that we can start saving some mula (THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!) and then we will be moving to a little one room apartment in Beijing, China on January 5th, 2011! AH! The internship will provide room and board, but we will not be getting paid, unless Ronnie is offered a job of some sort. Though we are ecstatic about this opportunity, I am a little....apprehensive...for one-I don't speak Chinese. For another, they use human...stuff...to fertilize their produce and we'll have to boil/purify any water that we want to use. And then...there are these

Yes, that is a bathroom! They really only have these at really ancient places, like the great wall. I'm told they have more western toilets at more modern places. Anywho, I won't end on the negative (or slightly amusing). This will be a grand adventure! We'll get to see the Great Wall, The Forbidden City, hopefully some Tera Cota Warriors, get cheap nock offs of really expensive things and make friends that I'm sure we'll have for a lifetime and beyond! In the words of Mushu from my favorite movie Mulan (ironic, no?) "Pack your bags Cricke! We're movin' out!"

Shakespearean Festival 2010

Some of my sils, my mil and me...Andrea's really not mad...she just wasn't ready :)

Guess who?!

Meg, Me, Mama, and Steph

Much Ado About Nothing was the first play I ever saw up there and I went with Meg...and we have a nasty picture of us in this same place

This summer we were able to go to the Shakespearean Festival multiple times, thanks to my awesome sister Meg, who was managing concessions there this year. The first one we went to was the 39 Steps, an adaptation of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Despite being Hitchcock, it was quite hilarious, though a tad scandalous at some parts-I may have felt this way due to the fact that I was sitting next to my high school aged sister and her date...who knows (also the only time we didn't get a picture). Next I went to Pride and Prejudice with my Mama and my sisters, because it is the all time, mother of all chic flicks, right? RIght. Love spending time with my sissys and Mother Teresa :) Meg and I got a picture in front of the Much Ado About Nothing poster, because eons ago we went to it together, and we both looked super nasty, both going through our "awkward" phases (atleast I was, maybe not Meg). I wish I had the picture to put on here.

Then Ronnie and I were able to actually go to Much Ado About Nothing with my awesome grandparents. Seriously, they're the coolest! The play was super hilarious too! Love that one! Last, but certainly not least, I was able to go to Merchant of Venice with my Mother in Law and a few of my Sisters in Law...LOVE these ladies (I love you too Lisa, Cindy, and Amy)! We had a great time and the play was very enjoyable!

AND I ate a raspberry tart...or two...at every performance! Sigh...they are SO deelish!

Go Shakespeare and thanks Schmeckie!