Things I've learned from Trace...

So Mr. Trace Porter's BIG numero 2-5 is coming up soon!! In 4 days to be exact. He is such a great and funny fellow and I've learned so much from him in the past couple of years. I thought I would share a few things so that all of you can be "inlightened" by the knowledge of Trace! (Warning: a lot of these may be inside jokes...so we might be the only ones that find them funny!)
1. Never say "NO" to the opportunity to go to a Phoenix Suns game...even if you are packing up and moving the same day!
2. Don't put pizza sauce on a bagel without toasting the bagel first. (when making little bagel pizzas) Soggy bagels are gross.
3. Peanut Butter is good with just about everything.
4. When hiking in the hot sun...ALWAYS offer your extra bandana...even if it is in the bottom of your pack.
5. The dishes can wait.
6. If you aint cheatin'...you aint tryin'. (wink, wink)
7. Be nice to the delivery guy. It's not his fault he can't read good.
8. He said that I learned how to cook from him...hmm...I would have to say "ecknsay on the etchupskay". I learned from my mama.
9. I have learned how to take 5 minute showers, or less....I just choose not to.
10. My grammer aint the best sometimes.
11. A match CAN burn twice.
12. Ice cream does NOT smell funny.
13. Pay close attention to details. I always used to fly through things and just get them done fast. I now tend to be a little slower....his perfection-ness is rubbing off on me.
14. Rubber banded socks always stay together as a pair and the washing machine will never "eat" just one sock.
15. Just cause something is "ON SALE" doesn't mean you have to buy it.
16. Some foreign countries don't have refigerators, AC's, heaters, hot water, dish washers, clothing washers and dryers. I already know this...and I'm GLAD to be an American.
17. Gas doesn't pay for itself...I know this too...he just likes to remind me a lot! :)
18. Actions speak louder than words.
19....I'm sure there are LOTS more, but I can't think right now. If I think of more, I'll add them later.

Farewell to Ace!

So, my mom informed me of some sad news today. Ryan's little dog, Ace, was shot by some stupid redneck hick down in Queen Creek. OH THE NERVE. I'm not sure on all the details and what not...but it makes me very angry...angry enough to curse! Ace was a good little dog...a good doggy friend. Anyway, this was the only picture I could find of Ryan and Ace.

Farewell to Ace-hole! (That's what Trace and I always called him.) Sorry you had to go out like that.

Church basketball...anyone?

Ok, so don't laugh...but I started playing basketball last night. I'm playing with our ward. It was HILARIOUS. Some girls on the don't know what "offense" is or "defense" is or "zone" or one of them tried (extra emphasis on tried) to explain "man on man!" Wow....needless to say....WOW!! I tried my best to explain it all during half time, which by that time we were already down by 20 give or take a few. (For those of you who know the past history of Show Low girls basketball, you will know that I am used to losing by 20 or more)...Anyway, this is how one of the conversations went:

Me: (as I'm guarding the inbounds pass, talking to this one chick, we will call her "Clueless" for confidentiality reason) You need to go down and play defense.

Clueless: Defense? ummm...I thought I WAS playing defense. (as she is standing by herself on the opposite side of the court.)

Me: Umm...close...but to play defense you need to be down there by the hoop guarding someone.

Clueless: (with a totally confused look on her face) Guarding? I thought we were supposed to be shooting.

Me: What? Offense is shooting....DE-fense is guarding.

The other team inbounds the ball, dribbles, shoots and scores before I get done laughing.

Anyway, there are several characters on the team that I will eventually talk about. It is funny. We have the "cheerleader", the Bad-a%$ (or so she thinks), and the "wirey flairer/flopper." It's oh so fun.

I'm shouldn't make fun, cause I'm no Steve Nash or anywhere near good and these ladies are just out to have fun. But I guess I'm just out to have fun too and if getting a good laugh at them is my source of fun....who cares...as long as we are all having a good time. I'll keep ya'll posted though.

As for other stuff. I made a few things. A couple years ago my cousin Megan helped me make these cute little blocks. I re-did them the other day and added a few little things and changed some of the paper on them to match my stuff better. I thought they turned out cute.

That's my wall. Fun, fun. Oh and I also blew up that family picture on the right and hung it up.

Bits of Tara and Trace

So I did this little questioneer thing for Trace. These are my answers for him:

Where did we meet: Well we met in my apt in Mesa, but you never talked to me, or called me...or emailed me until the day I was moving home to Show Low. Then you got all mad because I didn't go to the Suns game with you. Then we met at Denny's and you came into my life...for FOREVER!
Take a stab at my middle name: Trace. Kenneth is your first.
How long have you known me: Like 3 years, but i have "known you, know you" for 2 1/2 or so.
Do I smoke: You wished you hit the doobi back in the day...but no...you never have and you never will!!
What was your first impression of me upon meeting: HA HA. You were a return missionary and I never liked "those types"...just cause they were sometimes weird and stuff at frist. I did think you were funny cause you just sat over there in the booth and deleted each text message one by one. Then everyone gave me a hug when they left...EXCEPT for you. So I thought you didn't like me. Once we went bowling and you let me drive your truck...i knew i was in love! ha ha.
Color of my eyes: greenish-brownish. You say they are hazel though.
Do I have any siblings: Oh mercy, yes. Heather, Laron, Spencer, Reed, Beau, Devin, YOU, Lonna, Brindi, Jared, Nolan, and Princess Olivia.
What's one of my favorite things to do: You love snowboarding, riding a dirt bike out in the woods, shooting stuff, making people laugh, and watching funny movies...oh and chillin with your baby boy and ME!
Do you remember one of the first things I said to you: Oh you probably said "Hi"..or quoted some movie or something.
What's my favorite type of music: Blink 182...but you also love country and other stuff too.
What is the best feature about me: Your laugh. I love your laugh. I love your personality. You are so much fun to be around...and you are the best husband in the whole wide world!!
Am I shy or outgoing: You were shy towards me at first, but then totally outgoing after that.
Am I a rebel or do I follow the rules: I would say a rebel without a cause! J/k. You are my angel!
What's your favorite memory(ies) of me: Oh geez. I have so so many. I loved it when we got back from Havasue Pi and we went on your dirt bike ontop of that mountain and sat on that rock. We sang songs and danced...you wanted to tell me that you loved me...but you didn't. I loved it when you proposed to me at Saguaro Lake. You are so thoughtful and love to trick me and surprise me. Oh, I loved it when Brody was born how you got so excited and helped me so much. Oh and I really enjoyed the Green Day concert. It was so much fun. There are so many more memories of you that I love....maybe someday i'll spend all day and write them down. I love you so much and I'm looking forward to many more good memories with you. OH ya..one more. I loved in that on my 22 birthday you surprised me with flowers and a cute card and took me to Texas Roadhouse and bought me that cute little ring. The surprise was the best though.
Do I have any special talents: You are a very good movie quoter, your athletic, your super-dooper funny, and you are good with wood stuff.
Would you consider me a friend: Oh heaven's yes. MY bff!!
How many children do I have: One...as far as I know! ha ha. Mr. Brody Trace Porter...our little budah. He is soooooooooooo awesome.
If there was one good nickname for me, what would it be: Tracey Poo or Kenny! (ha ha) MY LOVER BOY, My hubby, babe, handsome, my favorite.
If you and I were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing that I would bring: You would bring Brody in a backpack and ME...that is all you'll need...right? Maybe I would bring a TV with sportscenter for you!

Trace's reply...which I got a kick out of. He says the funniest things sometimes.

Where did we meet: officially at the dennys in show low az
Take a stab at my middle name: reidtardhead
How long have you known me: seems like forever
Do I smoke: you only wish you puff the magic dragon
What was your first impression of me upon meeting: oh mercy babys got her blue jeans on
Color of my eyes: maybe green or brown sometimes both
Do I have any siblings: most likely you have 4 ryan rustin danica and the 4th is is iiiiiiiiiis mitsy!!!!!!
What's one of my favorite things to do: ummmmmmmm take nice hot bubble baths in our tiny little tub
Do you remember one of the first things I said to you: yes
What's my favorite type of music: it was rap until i said eeksnay on the etchupkay
What is the best feature about me: you like short people too
Am I shy or outgoing: when with me outgoing alone you are a shy one
Am I a rebel or do I follow the rules: shoot i try to convence myself that youre not a rebel but i think you are
What's your favorite memory of me: prolly the green day concert when you elbowed that fat chic next to us that was funny
Do I have any special talents: yes you sing oh so well
Would you consider me a friend: "what?" "jes!"
How many children do I have: i hope only one
If there was one good nickname for me, what would it be: friut cake bc i never know what flavor im gonna get next
If you and I were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing that I would bring: your damn make up to impress the fish and coconuts

6 month PIX

I can't believe my baby is 6 months. (Well, actually almost 7...I got a little behind!) Here is a list of a few things that Brody loves or that he's learned how to do:

1. He smiles and laughs A LOT.

2. He loves attention.

3. He eats big boy food...no, not steak with salisbury sauce...just the yummy stuff like Oatmeal, carrots (which he despises), green beans, and other nutritious baby stuff.

4. He can hold his own bottle...for the most part.

5. He LOVES his dad.
6. He loves his bouncy chair.

7. He can roll over and sit up. But can't get from one to the other without face planting it.

8. He loves his girlfriend...Savannah.

9. He definatley loves his Grandparents.

and 10. He knows how to change his own diaper. (Ok, not really, but wouldn't that be nice?)

AND ofcourse...here are a couple of new pix of him! Aint he a doll? A handsome manly doll?

Check out the record breaking drool stream....(gross, I know!)Jabba Jr. (Grandma Toni said that Trace used to ALWAYS hold his head back like this...Like father, like son!)He looks so hard core in this picture. WHAT UP???

For all of you who LOVE Brody's "powty face"...we captured it!!

Viva Las Vegas

The Stephens + the Porters in LAS VEGAS = PARTY!!! We all loaded up into Banning's new truck and hit the trail to LV early EARLY Friday morning. Along the way we watched bits and pieces of "The Office"....SOOOOOO funny! We didn't stop...well, except one time when Brody got really pissed because someone (his mom) forgot to pack some water to make his bottle. What was I thinking? Anyway, we made it to Vegas safe and sound.
You may ask yourself? Why Vegas? Why did they choose to go there for a lovely family vacation. Answer: "Mew-wridge is what bwings us togeder today..." (Princess Bride)
We went there for Dustin and Lindsey's wedding. Banning and Trace were in the line and Jaime and I and the kiddoes were the support group. Anyway...here are a few pics from the Joyous Occasion!

This is us...bright and early on the road.
Brody loved the huge fish aquarium in one of the casino's. I can't remember which one. They all run together and are a blurr to me!
This is Brody in the motel sink...waiting for his turn to take a bath.Brody and I at the wedding reception.Whose the handsome man in the tux? Whoot woo!This is most of the wedding line. Trace's new g-friend is the little redhead.

THE GROOM! Can you tell that he stayed out a LITTLE too late the night before? Naughty, naughty!
The Porters and the Newlyweds...the Johnsons....Three handsome young lads in tuxes!

We had a great time! Special thanks to Banning for driving most of the way...minus the whole hour that Trace drove. I would also like to give a shout out to Erin McClearan for watching Savannah so that Banning could work on the Bio-Diesel fuel thing for his truck. You saved us some major $$$$. Thank you!

Happy New Years!

This post is a little late...but I wanted to inform everyone about Anniversary date and our fun New Years. First of all, my mom and dad drove up here and totally surprised me. Trace totally lucked out cause he was incharge of finding a babysitter for our Anniversary. (How convinient, huh?) It was so nice to get to go out on a date and not have to worry about Brody. I am pretty sure he was VERY spoiled the whole time. I'm so glad that they could come up and spend time with us...but mostly their favorite Grandson. I didn't get many pictures...but here are a few.

My mom even let Budah use her neck pillow while he was watching TV. ha ha.
Nanna and her cutest grandbaby...

For our Anniversary we ate some delicious waffles (provided by me), then we went Rock Climbing. It was so much fun. Both of us had never been so....it was an experience for sure. I pretty much rocked at rock climbing. (Ok, not really, but we sure can pretend!) Trace was really good and picked up quick. I just played on the Kiddie wall all day with the 4 year olds! (Just kidding...I wasn't THAT bad!) Ofcourse I forgot my camera. (Me hitting my forehead saying, "dumb, dumb, dumb!") After that we uh, went and got massages. That was nice...especially after rock climbing. After that we came home and got ready and went to dinner at the best place ever...Texas Roadhouse. Yummy, yummy. We were going to go watch a movie in the Theathre, but we were both too tired. That's about it for the Date and stuff...if you even cared. Oh and if you are interested in seeing what Brody was up to during that time, tune in to my mom and dad's blog.

Then for New Year's we went and hung out with our bestest buddies, Banning and Jaime AND....(don't ask me what Banning is doing in this picture...ha ha)... SAVANNAH!! (I think I surprised her in this picture.) We went to their house and played games and stuff with a bunch of their friends. It was fun....yet guess who forgot their camera...yep, you got it, ME.I took a few of Savannah and Brody together. Some are from a different day when I babysat her.Uhhh....."an apple." (For those of you who have seen Dennis the Menace...that would be really funny!)

Banning chillin with the two chillens'!

Savannah saying, "Oh Brody, hunny, you got a little bat in the cave. Let me get it for you."She's already smoochin on him. Now Brody's turn to give Savannah loves.
Oh, so cute. (Don't you love her hair?)Brody makes the BEST squishy face. I love it. It makes me laugh everytime I see it. And this is a shout out to my little man. Happy 6 months Brodizzle. You are the best kid in the whole wide world. We love you and your smiles and laugh...we even love your cry! Thanks for the best 6 months ever.

2 whole YEARS

Happy 2 year Anniversary to US....as of December 29, 2007. It's been two incredible years. Time sure does fly when your having fun, working 2 jobs, having a kid, going to school, moving to Utah, and lovin' and laughin'. I just wanted to list a few things we've done over the past two years.

* We got married...that was a good start!

* We hiked Havasue Pi. (The northern part of the Grand Canyon.)

* Lived in a single wide trailer and played poker pretty much EVERY night.

* Worked together at a trucking company slash saw mill.

* Went snowboarding at Durango.

* When bunny hunting until all hours of the night.

* Drove to Evingston, Wyoming....just for the hell of it.

* Tried to canoe across the Pacific Ocean on our honeymoon and almost killed eachother.

* We went to numerous Phoenix Suns games.

* Moved to Utah and are trying are hardest not to become "UTAHARDS."

* Went fishing and wake boarding at Lake Rosevelt.

* Hiked Ensign Mountain when I was 7 months pregnant.

* umm....and the best one....We made the coolest kid in the whole wide world.

Here are a few pictures from the big day. I didn't want to bore you all with a slide show.

Just to explain...I was trying to give Trace a kiss...and he started LAUGHING at me.

It's been a wonderful two years. Thank you so much Trace for everything. I love you and you are my bestest friend. I look forward to many more years filled with fun adventures, laughter, and lots of love. I love you.

Christmas came and went

So Christmas came and went. It was a fun filled day with lots of excitement. I, for one, couldn't sleep the night before because I was seriously too excited. (I was for sure that I was going to get a puppy! ha ha....a different story for another day and another time.) Anyway, at about 7 in the morning I couldn't take it any longer. My excuse was that "Uhhh...Brody is awake...TIME TO OPEN PRESENTS!! WOOOHOOO!!" So Trace jumped out of bed on my Que, with tons of excitment and emotion. (Ok, not really, but we would like to think so!) Anyway, we eventually went downstairs to open presents. (Refer to the video....it will be like you are actually there...just tilt your head slightly to the right!)



After that fun episode...we took some pictures of Budah infront of the tree with his fun Fire Engine. And then tore into the stockings and gifts.

Oh yikes.....WARNING: One eye appears bigger and hair looks frazzled in picture below...
In my stocking was a little box (and ladies...we ALL know what is in the "little boxes"...so I thought anyway). So I open the box to find a note that says something like this, "I was a day late and a dollar short getting your wedding ring soddered...so you can just wear your old bracelet until it's done." ha ha. My thoughts, "Hmmm..." (with a puzzled look on my face), "Classic Trace", and maybe a little, "Are you kidding me?" Anyway, I was a good sport and continued on with the program.

(See the "little box" in the picture...THAT's the one.)

Trace got a BIG bag to put all his Lineman tools in. (It kind of looks like the Mary Poppins bag.)
Brody got lots of books. He loved the paper more than the book though.
Oh wow. Trace loves his robe....can you tell?
Brody also got a beanie and a trucker hat that says, "Skate or Cry" on it. It is SA-WEET!This is him in his little hat and his new John Deere hoody. Yep, he's a pimp daddy.
Awww....they look like a couple of hicks! ha ha.

This is Brody in his new hat playing with his new toy...Brindi didn't get to go home for Christmas so "Santa" brought her a couple of gifts and a stocking. Her mom also sent up a couple of gifts for her. I'm glad that she got to spend it with us. At least we had eachother....right Brin?
Well, that's about all for the special Christmas Episode featuring the Porters. Thank you everyone for the lovely gifts and all the love throughout the years. We love you all.

Oh...and just so you know. The very last present I opened...the one I thought was going to be my little puppy, was actually my wedding ring. It was so pretty. Soddered, shined, polished, flawless, and B-E-A-UTIFUL! (The picture does not give it justice!) My husband is a little trickster...and I love him.