Finn and I are back from Florida, now... and while it is so nice to be home with Caleb again, I am missing my sistahs!  Ryan Sierra is gorgeous!

The kids had so much fun together.  Finn wanders around the house sometimes and it seems like he is looking for his cousins, Atticus and Wyatt.

Kasey is such a great MOM!!!  I get great pointers just by watching her with her kids.  I can't wait until I see all of the Florida people again!  We love you Southerners!

Smiles on a Plane

I discovered that Finn has a favorite game to play on an airplane. I recently took him to Florida to visit his new baby cousin, Ryan Sierra. While we were on the plane, Finn would stand on my lap and look over my sit so he could have a better view of the passengers on the plane. He would proceed to pick out the person who was paying the least amount of attention to him and make it his mission in life to charm that person into a smile. He was laying on the charm thick! And as soon as the kid got a smile, he moved on to the next conquest. It was entertaining, and at times almost embarrassing.

Gabe and Jade are finally hitched!

After months of governmental delays, the two lovebirds are now married! Jade looked beautiful and Gabe was as handsome as ever (not to mention all the good looking groomsmen... I love Caleb in a tuxedo). The Temple Sealing was very touching and adds what nothing else can to a wedding. I am proud of the two of you.

During the weekend my thoughts kept turning to our wedding over two years ago. Not only was I so relieved to have known that the years of waiting for just the right person was the right thing to do and that the pay-off was so great, I also realized the blessing it was to marry into a family like the Poduskas. During all of the preparations for my wedding, I realized how lucky I was to be marrying into a family where the parents-in-law care so much about their sons' new wives. Mike and Laurie did everything they could and worked so hard in preparation for our wedding (I will always think of poor Mike setting up all of those lanterns in the trees with my sister, Kasey) and I was so grateful. What is truly impressive is that the hard work, care and concern for us never diminished, but they try to always provide whatever the married couples need.

So, Jade, welcome to the family and count me as one of the many Poduskas who are excited to have you in the family!

[Gabe and Jade asked me to do their wedding cake, and despite being terrified I would ruin their wedding by making a horrible cake... I was happy and excited to do it. Jade picked out a beautiful design and the rest fell into place.]

Valentine's Day

Caleb surprised me with this Valentine's Day gift, and I thought I would fall over laughing. It was a larger-than-life poster of Finn as Cupid. Caleb has always been able to to make me laugh. I love his sense of humor! I don't know what we are going to do with a life-size poster of Finn, but I am never getting rid of it!

In honor of Valentine's Day, and at the risk of boring everyone greatly, I have to say how much I love Caleb. I have always recognized how unique and wonderful he is... from the moment we began spending time together, I knew he was different from anyone else I had ever known. But I could never have known at that time how supportive he is. The pregnancy proved Caleb to be capable of things that few men are.

It just so happened that the person I fell in love with turned out to be the greatest source of support, strength, and laughter in my life. I will always have fun and laughter in my life because I have him. So thank you Caleb (and since I am the one writing most of these blogs, I can embarass you all I want!)

Disneyland Trip

Finn had his first Disneyland trip! It was risky taking an 8 month old to the Magic Kingdom. It was either going to be great, or a total mess... but he was in such a good mood! After having an ear infection the whole week before, Finn's normal happy self returned just in time for the trip. You wouldn't think he would be old enough to be excited about Disneyland, but he was grinning from the moment we got to the parking lot. It was very cute. And anytime somebody stopped to show him a little attention, he ate it up and turned on his charm. It was a little smokey from the fires in LA, but we had a wonderful time (especially at the Disneyland mansion which was Nightmare Before Christmas for October).

Caleb's E For All Expo

For Caleb's birthday, I gave him the gift of "nerding out". I got him tickets to the video game convention "E For All Expo" where they preview the newest video games coming out and they give away a bunch of stuff. And as embarrassed as he was to accept it, he loved it. He came away with ten free t-shirts, games demos, and one of those intel commercials where you are multiplied into many people dancing around. It is hilarious, because Caleb had no idea what he was doing and the awkwardness comes through.