Wednesday, October 29, 2008

More Fighting Photos

So Spence's friend Nate snapped these two pics with his iphone. He was to busy bein a corner man to get any action shots, but we were lucky to get any pictures at all. They prohibit flash photography, and we have to wait two weeks for Spence to get his video of the match back.



Monday, October 27, 2008

Whoops

I guess proofreading is a good thing, but I don't always do it. Correction Spence was a third degree brown belt and quit at 17. This was his first time competing again in almost 14 years.

My Ultimate Fighter

For those of you who don't know my husband, he is a pretty tough guy. He trained in Muso-Kai and shodokan (I think) which Muso-Kai is taken from Okinawan Karate. He trained from 6-17 years old and was a thrid degree black belt. He has been training at a mixed martial arts gym for about a year. He was working out last wednesday and apparently the owner of the gym and another guy were watching him hit the heavy bag for about an hour. They asked him if he would be interested in fighting this Saturday and of course he said yes. I guess someone backed out from the card from Idaho so Spence filled his spot. They fought in a real Octagon at this bar/nightclub/hotel called Elevate. His two friends were his corner men and he had another couple friends watch with me in the audience. Everyone asks if I am scared to see him fight but I know he is tough and can handle his business. Spence weighed in at 223 and his competitor was 248 and lets just say alot more flabby than Spence. I felt bad for his competitor before going into the fight. It was both there first fight, but Spence was definitely faster and more skilled by far. He won in 90 seconds by a T.K.O. I was so proud of him and it was so cool to see my husband up there in the limelight doing what he loves to do. Now he is a certified pro cagefighter and can fight anywhere throughout the nation. They would not let us take any pics inside so I just posted a few cagefighting pics and part of a scan of his first check. Wahoo. It will be televised on a local channel and on-line I think. We will find out more today. Great job Honey!!! Like I said when we first met, I feel very safe around you, and your performance Saturday emphasized that once again. I love you!!!






Trip to Las Vegas

As you can see I got another haircut. I finally think I am at a length I like. I am glad I did not dye my hair because last minute I had to take Stone with me and he was good until about the last 10-15 minutes and he was fussing and I held him on my lap. His little polar fleece pants were covered in my hair, yuck. Luckily my cousin cuts my hair and has kids so she was really cool about me bringing Stone, but hopefully my next visit can be a bit more relaxing. This is the best self portrait I could get, sorry.

Last weekend we went to Las Vegas to visit Jason's family before they move back to Hollister. I forgot how fun it is to roadtrip with my husband. We have the best conversations, listen to good music and just enjoy the ride. Stone was such a good boy all weekend, including both ways in the car. LOVE HIM!!! I enjoyed the weather so much but Jason's pool was a little too chilly for Stone. They have the coolest house one level, over 3,000 sq ft, 4 beds 3.5 baths, a huge master bedroom on the other side of the house, a great open floor plan and a pool and spa in the back. Obviously much to big for us now, but a future dream, nonetheless.
We went to my favorite indoor swap meet and I bought concentrated perfume and cologne oils for Spence and I. I was so glad that vendor was still there because I had not been back in 4 years. It is truly the only stuff that is modest in price lasts forever on my skin and is agreeable to a person like me. The alcohol in regular perfume dries my skin and makes me itch like crazy. I love perfume so I suffer the itchy neck.
We ate the best home cooked food all weekend and the boys and big boys played rockband which was fun to see. We took a short walk down the strip to Bellagio and Caesar's Palace, two of my fav's. Spence and Stone had never seen the fountains at Bellagio so that was amazing as always. The inside of Bellagio was decorated so cool, I am sorry the pictures did not turn out better or do it any sort of justice. Our camera is going so crazy, it shut off after inside of Bellagio and would not work the rest of the weekend. UGH!










Stone Update

Stone turned 6 months on October 8th, I know a little late. At his checkup he was a healthy 16lbs and 6oz and 25inches. He definitely gets enough to eat. As you can see from the picture in his stroller he has been teething and finally after a rough week of sleep for us and pain for him he got his two bottom teeth. His new toothy smile is adorable. Sure wish we could get all the teething overwith all at once. Anyhow he is sitting up pretty well by himself and he loves to roll around everywhere. No crawling yet, but he has been doing some cute little push ups and having a blast on his jumper/bouncy seat. He jumps like a maniac, especially if we have company over....little show off. j.k. My parents came out for a quick visit over conference. We went to Gardener Village had lunch and looked at all the cute shops and witch decorations. My mom also helped me with an awesome Thanksgiving centerpiece (she did 90%). Then we finally went to the Cheesecake factory which just opened about a year ago in Utah. I love seeing my parents it is always so fun. I wish I had pictures but my camera was not working the day we were out...










Thursday, October 2, 2008

Northern California Road Trip

I flew home with Stone for my cousin Rachels wedding up in northern California. We drove up with my brother Brandon's family and my mom and dad. It was about a six hour drive north and a beautiful drive too. It has been a long time since I have been on a "family" road trip, the kind where you are singing songs and kids are fighting and everyones snacking and laughing and talking and asking, "Are we there yet?". It was great to sthe bee close family and friends all over the hotel and at the wedding of course. Garberville is a small town in the redwoods and it was such a peaceful getaway. Our fam had fun going to some of the fun shops with redwood carvings and skunk and davey crocket hats, and other fun trinkets. We drove the suburban through the famous Chandelier tree in Legget, CA. We had so much fun playing that we (the girls) were extremely rushed to get ready for the wedding, which I wasn't too happy about. The wedding was something out of a storybook. Rachel looked so beautiful and happy...the scenery was beautiful, overlooking the valley, a pond, llamas, and sunflowers everywhere, a great barn dance, and of course great food. (it's a Sowards event). I know some people dread going to weddings, but I absolutely love it. After the wedding we slept over one more night with the whole fam in a suite and headed back to the bay. On the way back we drove part way along the coast and stopped in Mendocino...It's an artsy coastal town with lots of bed and breakfast. I drooled over some high end boutique fashions and some other fun shops. We had lunch at a cute cafe overlooking the water (depending where you sit). My family dropped Stone and I off at the Oakland airport a little early and I ended up seeing and sitting next to one of Brandon's old friends who was at the wedding and Bishop Halls son Jon and his new wife. (Perks of living in S.L.C.) It was such a great trip and so fun to have quality time with my family. The only way the trip would be better was if my husband could have came. I knew he would have loved the area. I just have so much more fun with my hubster around.

More pics from the Wedding





My cousin Rachel's Wedding






Hanging out near Garberville before Rach's wedding






Catchin up

Why can I never post my pictures in the right order?? Why?? So we have had a busy past month or so. The picture of Stone's first ride on a carousel and train was back in mid July when our family went out to San Jose for a visit. For some reason our cute pics from the aquarium weren't scanned right so I am movin on to more current events.

The last two pics are of my handsome husband who just celebrated his 31st b-day on September 14th. I usually like to surprise him with a gift on his birthday but this year no surprise...I took him to a local mixed martial art fight(s) and surprised him with a new steel string guitar...it just was an early surprise since I got the fight tickets at the guitar shop. Plus he's left handed and plays guitar right handed but I forgot that in the store...I ended up buying the right kind though. Anyhow I think I am back to surprises next year even though my husband could care less about gifts. I did surprise him with a yummy breakfast made a yummy dinner. He wanted homemade donuts instead of a cake so I tried my hand at donut making. They actually turned out pretty well for my first stab at it. I can cook but anytime a recipe requires yeast and rising I am always keeping my fingers crossed to see if it comes out ok. Our immediate family on the Thompson side came over and enjoyed the donuts and eachothers company.