HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

Happy Thanksgiving...and by the way remember when Zach and I were hit by a turkey on our way out to D.C. two years ago???? (I would like to emphasize that the turkey hit us, we did not hit the turkey). Well he seriously looked just like this one. The thing was huge.

What an exciting week I have had!

This past week was action packed to say the least. And I am exhausted! Well, finally we closed on our townhouse. Seriously I thought the day might never come, but after a lot of hours on the phone and daily trips to Kinko's I got the whole mess sorted out and we are in! At least I can say it was worth it...we LOVE our new place. We have spent the past few days unpacking and trying to get everything set up. I think this part is fun. I will admit though that I am a little overwhelmed by all the decorating I need/want to do. We don't need much new furniture but I need some serious accessories. As soon as I feel like it is looking remotely presentable I will post pictures:)

My sister Jenna and I decided to go to Twilight at midnight on Thursday. I keep reading on everyone's blogs that they were disappointed. I liked it to be honest. I mean it wasn't the most amazing movie in the world, and yes it was cheesy, but HELLO the book is so cheesy! I thought the casting was great, Bella and Edward had some great chemistry. Everything for the most part was how I imagined it when I read the book, so that was why I liked it. I am hoping this movie will get them more money for the next movie and they will keep getting better!

Saturday night was AMAZING! We went to the Coldplay concert. Seriously they are unreal. I can't say enough to make you understand how phenomenal this concert was. I have been to them before and loved it, and this one was even better. Why are they so freaking good? Ah I love them. I am a moron and didn't bring my camera in. You have no idea how annoyed I am. But Jenna was there too with Jake and she sent me some pics with her phone. I have decided that next time they come to town I will pay FULL PRICE to be front and center. I don't even care...it is so worth it.





Finally....today is Andrew's birthday! He is ONE! I can't believe it. This year has flown by. I am kind of sad he is one I will admit. This is what my little man can do at one: walks...seriously almost running, climbs stairs, says mama, dada, ball, dog, enna (short for Jenna), sleeps through the night and takes gloriously long naps, claps, points, waves his hands above his head, smiles and laughs literally ALL THE TIME, and is friendly to people he has never seen before. I just love this little bear. Happy Birthday Andrew!

I love this time of year!!

As soon as my life calms down a little bit with all the moving, trips, etc.....I would love to send you all a Christmas card! I have some of your addresses, but not everyone's, so PLEASE leave me your address so we can send you one!! Thank you:)

My how time flies...

I have had an especially fun day with the little bear. He has so much personality these days. I just keep thinking today about how much my life has changed with him and how grateful I am. I was looking at the photographer's website today where we had his newborn pictures taken. I noticed that she put him in her portfolio and I was so excited. I haven't looked at those pictures in a long time...how cute is he? He looks so different now. He will be one year old on he 24th and I just can't believe it. I love this little bear.

{A Glimpse of My Life This Week}

I am a busy bee!! Well, I began packing today. So far my kitchen alone has taken eight boxes! I think you really realize how much worthless and unnecessary stuff you have when you move. As you can see...my kitchen is still a disaster....that is what I will be doing the rest of the day incase you are wondering....but I am taking a break now. Hopefully we will close this week. Everything is looking up (in reference to a couple posts ago). I am excited to move into our new place, but feeling a little nostalgic too. Even though this has been a temporary home that we have rented it has felt like our's. We have lived here for a little over a year, minus the summers of course. I will always have sweet memories of the home we brought little Andrew too from the hospital. At the same time I am so excited for a new beginning.

Lately I have been trying to develop some hobbies:) Why I am doing that now at the busiest time of the year, I'm not quite sure, but it has been really fun. I am working on a couple Christmas presents which I cannot reveal:) But I can show you this fun project. I found the cutest fabric store in Springville called the Corn Wagon. I decided to sign up for a class and the one they were offering at the time was a Christmas tree skirt. I went this past week and had so much fun. It was serious therapeutic for me to sit there alone and just work on something with no distractions. So, I've been working on it at home too. I like to stay home and not feel like I am dragging Andrew all over the place, but I get bored too. Sewing is my remedy these days. Never thought I would say that. Here are some pics...it isn't finished yet, but you get the idea. I need to do the back and then go have it quilted. I am excited it has turned out so cute!

p.s. If anyone is looking for, or knows someone who is looking for a glass dining table, cream rug from IKEA, printer, tv, dvr, surround sound system....I am trying to sell them! Everything is in great condition. The tv is still in great condition just not a flat screen:) Email me if you are interested at katie.hillstead@gmail.com

It's gonna be a long one...

Well I finally went out and bought a camera battery charger today....so lucky for you all I have a BIG update. First we just have some randoms....Drew and Daddy. Aren't they handsome?Andrew is such a ham. Seriously....this is his "scrunch face" we like to call it. He ALWAYS does this smile.

Happy Halloween. Isn't this adorable?

We went trick-or-treating with the cousins up in Sandy. Zach collected candy "for Andrew".

These pictures are going back to our trip to St. George with the Hillstead side. Andrew actually played and interacted with his cousins this trip. It was so cute to see him walk around following them. He wanted to be one of the big kids. Jake and Ashley are playing with him here. It was so cute:)

Playing in the grass. Such beautiful weather.

Probably the best part of this trip for me was that I was able to play literally HOURS of tennis everyday. Lucky for me I married into a family of tennis players. I can't keep up with those boys but it was still so much fun to play. This picture was from a morning when the girls went out to play. Natalie, my 8 month pregnant sis-in-law was killing it. I was seriously impressed. I could like feel myself having braxton-hicks watching her waddle to the ball. Ouch. What a champ.

Drew taking a walk with Poppy.

Ok now we are really going back far.....remember how a few weeks ago we went to Las Vegas? Well, I am finally posting those pics. We went with a group from Zach's work and their wives and it was seriously so much fun. Here we are at Joe's...one of the MOST AMAZING seafood and steak houses I have ever been too. We had stone crab and alaskan crab for appetizers and I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

These lil' suckers were my favorite!

That man is real in case you are wondering. Kind of creepy.

I had so much fun getting to know these girls better....Tara and Missy. They are great!

Bonding time for the boys in the wave pool.

This is where we stayed. The Hotel and Mandalay Bay. It was so nice...I highly recommend it!

Catching some rays.

Zach was so excited that they had a wave pool at our hotel. It brought me back to our honeymoon....Katie laying out while her husband/child played in the pool. HA.

I am a cheater

I am a cheater and stole these pics from Layla's blog. I didn't have my camera that night! These are some pics from Jason and Missy's Halloween party. It was so much fun! If you can't find me I have a green face....and if you can't find Zach he is the black man next to me:) But look at our little tiger! Andrew was so cute in his costume. I have much better pictures which are coming...
If I have seemed a little MIA lately that is because the freaking state of California is taking over my life. Long story short they made a HUGE mistake on our credit report and are being super difficult about removing it. Meanwhile our townhome is completely done just sitting there waiting for us to close. Unfortunately we can't until we get all this crap figured out. FRUSTERATING TO SAY THE LEAST. So we are hoping to be done with all this in the next week and moving in. After that I will have some time to blog and catch up because I won't be going to Kinko's EVERY SINGLE DAY to fax more paperwork. Incase you are wondering why I am still typing in italics and bold it is because blogger is being mean right now and won't take it off even though it says it is not on. Ah.