My Head is Round (a spoof on the Beach Boys "I Get Around"

Michael had the great opportunity of playing in a band recently. A few guys from the ward put together a band and performed for the ward Christmas party. Michael is the guy on the far left with the black and white guitar. He does all the guitar solos. He thought it would be funny to wear a fun winter cap while he played... :)

Halloween - Madilynn was Sleeping Beauty

Here are some pictures of Madilynn as Sleeping Beauty for Halloween.

DADDY'S HOME!!!

I have been hearing something I never expected to hear as a parent. Every day I come home recently I am welcomed with a resounding... "DADDY'S HOME!!!" over and over "DADDY'S HOME... DADDY'S HOME!"

This has made me feel pretty important as a dad. What can I say, I've felt proud to be her daddy. Life doesn't get any better.

New Posts - 2008 To'Nanees'Dizi - Dine Fair

Photos from the Navajo Nation - To'Nanees'Dizi - Dine Fair

Road Trip

Michael went on a trip to the Navajo Nation

I just got back from a trip to the Navajo Nation to take pictures. It was a lot of fun. Challenging since the weather was bad the whole time, but FUN! I took some really neat pictures down there.

I'll get some posted really soon.

It's Christmas in September

Madilynn loves the Santa Clause movie with Tim Allen. We have watched it about 6 times this week because that is all Madilynn wants to do. How can you not let her? She is so cute when she starts to smile and laugh and get excited when he turns back into Santa... she starts clapping and jumping around... it is adorable.

What has the week been like?

Well... we thought we were all potty trained but... not quite yet. We're still working on it.

There is some debate in the house as to who should win America's Got Talent. Michael is pulling for Nuttin But Stringz and Nicole is pulling for Eli the pianist or one of the two opera singers. It will be a toss up.

Michael has had to travel a bunch this week. He is doing store reviews up North (and more toilet repairs).

Michael worked with the scouts and Young Men fixing a deck for a neighbor... that was actually quite a bit of fun. We just hoped that once it was light outside that the deck actually looked good. :)

Nicole made the best Cinnamon Rolls I have ever tasted. I ate one... then I couldn't sleep last night... so I ate two more. To die for!!!

President of the Company

I'm the president of a small retail company.

I tell people that and they go... ooohhh.. President and start bowing and things like that. (I think it's kind of funny, I knew they would do that, that's why I took the job) JK

Anyhow, I bet you didn't know that being president meant... I do the weeding, sprinklers, painting, fix the toilet, take out the trash, change the light bulbs... and so many other things... Hay it's a smelly job but someone has to do it. :)

Move over accounting, move over marketing, move over budgets and proposals... the president is coming to the toilets rescue!!!

Almost up again

Nicole has been trying franticly to get our LDS Family Services page back online. I believe we have been down for a few months. I did may part, I edited the posts and added photos. It has been kind of an interesting process.

We haven't had any bites yet, but we'll let you know when we do.

NEW PHOTO PAGES

Madilynn and Abbey

Madilynn just loves other kids... and even more so her cousins. Nicole's sister and her children recently visited from Washington and Madilynn quickly made a new friend... Abbey. Aren't the two of them beautiful together?
 

NEW FAMILY PHOTOS!!!

Parades

We had the chance to go to two parades this summer (so far). One with Mikes family in Orem, and also the 4th of July parade in Provo. For some reason we always get excited when the princesses come around... I don't get it... it could be that my little girl will only wear princess shoes? It could be that my little girl will only wear princess dresses? (trust me it gets worse than that) She sleeps on princess sheets, with a princess comforter, she has a princess tooth brush and tooth paste, she drinks her milk and juice out of a princess cup, and we watch princess movies over and over and over again. I did have my camera set wrong when I took this photo, but you can still see them.

Princess Party

One of the nice things about having a little girl is... princess parties! Can you guess which one is ours? Madilynn just turned 3!

Youth Conference

Mike recently went on a Youth Conference outing to the Manti Temple Pageant. It was a bunch of fun. We have some really great kids in our ward (much better than I ever was as a kid). The funny thing was, the girls were the ones that got in trouble for staying up talking too late, not the boys. I was real proud of our boys... :)

If you haven't ever been to the Manti Temple Pageant, it is a real treat. It takes place on the side of the hill below the Manti Temple. There were probably 5-10 thousand people there. It is a theatrical version of the Joseph Smith story along with the Book of Mormon story. I hadn't seen it in about 10 years so it was really fun to go see it again.

New Kitchen Floor

Well, we have a new kitchen floor (it's a wood floor). Man, it really looks nice. We had our refrigerator leak and the insurance company paid for our new floor. As part of it we are putting in a new stone floor in the bathroom. Our neighbor sells flooring and he is coming over to help us install it. We chose a slate floor because it seemed so unique with its uneven texture and colors. Our house will be put back together again shortly.


In the mean time, Madilynn has loved having the house all torn apart, she has decided our hutch (with the shelves off of it, is her new little home and she seems to always retreat there for some fun.


It was really funny, after they finished our floor, we couldn't stay in the house for two days. When Nicole stopped by the house the first day, Madilynn walked up to the door and instantly started crying (the vapors were so strong). Then when we stopped by the next day... she didn't even want to walk up to the door (remembering how she didn't like the vapors last time) It was actually very cute. Now a few days later, you can barely smell it... It's nice to be home

Fathers and Sons Bombfire

I recently went on the Fathers and Sons camp out. I was given the special assignment of creating a bonfire for the evening. Let me just say this... I don't think I've gotten rid of the the little pyro in me yet. Maybe that is why I haven't been blessed with a boy?

Memorial Day

It has been a great Memorial Day so far. We are very happy because my brother is coming home from Iraq as we speak. He has been gone for over a year on his first tour of duty. I can't begin to express how proud I am of him.

I often reflect on how wonderful this country is, even with all the bad things that are going on. What a great country and great heritage. Many men and women have given all they had, even their own lives. My grandfather and my father were both in the Air Force, my brother was in the Air Force until he switched to the Army (He likes to blow stuff up and you don't get those oportunities in the Air Force). Both Nicole's grandfather father were in the Navy. They both served faithfully. Her Grandfather was in WWII on a battleship and her father was stationed in England during Vietnam (lucky duck). Her other grandfather was in the Army and served in WWII as well.

Nicole's grandfathers were great men. It would fill me with emotion to hear them even try to speak about the wars they served in. It was amazing to see someone as tough a man as her grandfather who served in the Army start to weep as he would mention his love for this country and the flag. He had nothing but respect and honor for it.

I love this country. I'm passionate about what is happening to it. Nicole thinks I'm a bit crazy, but I have a file with dozens of letters (responses) from our state senators because of all the letters I frequently write them. I believe we can each make a difference for good. But most of all, I think good is done by our actions every day.

God Bless all those great men and women who have served us and our country, God Bless my brother for serving us now. And, God Bless America!

A long awaited book to read....

Nicole has been waiting months for this new book to read. If you mention it to her, I would put the response from here right up there with peeing you pants with excitement. She really can't wait to read it!

Family Vacation in Tahoe

We took a family vacation this month to Reno and Lake Tahoe... what a trip. I think the thing that saved us was having purchased a small TV/DVD player for Madilynn to watch on the way there. Wouldn't you know it, she didn't even realize we were on a long trip until we were about 1 hour from Reno. Then she told us she wanted to go home. (we smiled at each other)

I think the highlight of our trip was going up the Heavenly tram at Lake Tahoe. It takes you about 3000 feet above the lake to where you can look out and see all of Lake Tahoe. It was quite a long ride and alot of fun floating over the forest.

All we can say is that we know who we are voting for on Tuesday!
We are BIG American Idol fans!

Family Photo

Here is a family photo from last year... we're waiting to get a new one taken that is more recent.

Thanks for visiting us!

We just set up this new blog so we can keep our information up-to-date. Check back, we'll be adding more great stuff about us really soon! In the mean time, if you would like to email us... send and email to mike@mike-and-nicole.com