*Paige is right

We're always getting after her for not updating her blog and here we are without a post since the first of the month! And the thing is, there's a ton I can post about. I just haven't had the time or energy.

Kim was here with her girls for 3 weeks and it was so much fun!!! I miss her. She really ought to move closer. She keeps trying to get us to move by her, but Joel speaks Portuguese, not Spanish, so Chile won't work for us. I think since both her and Dave speak English, they should move here ;). Anyway, we had a ton of fun and I took hundreds of pictures. That's part of the reason I haven't posted for awhile. I'm almost too overwhelmed with pictures. I tried uploading them into photobucket, but it was taking forever and I haven't tried since. I've decided that for now I'll just pick a few to represent what we did and if I get the chance I'll post details about each of them.

Oh yeah, another reason I haven't posted since Kim left till now is because Joel and I were sick sick sick for a few days. Good timing actually. Kim left Friday, I got sick Friday night, Joel took care of me and Kaylee Saturday then he got sick Saturday night. I was still sick, but much better than I had been by Sunday so I was able to take care of him. By Tuesday we were both mostly over it. We had the worst flu either of us had had in a long time. It was no fun, but we're healthy now, so it's all good. I'm finally getting caught up on laundry and cleaning from the fun playing of the month and the sickness, so I have extra blogging time.

I think what I'm going to do is post 1 picture from everything I want to post about later as a reminder.

Cute cousins (or 2nd or something... my cousin, Heidi's, baby) Bailee and Kaylee playing

Family Pictures

Bean museum

Bylund family reunion

East High (where High School Musical was/is filmed)

Wheeler Farm

And those are just the things I personally have pictures of. I also have to post about:

• Kangaroo Zoo
• Our new callings
• All of Kaylee's new tricks
• Chuckee Cheese
• etc.

Hmmm... yeah, don't expect even half of those posts, but I'll do what I can.

*This statement applies to this post only and is seldom true ;)

Less Language, Violence and Nudity in the Hilton Home

I like movies.

I like movies a lot.

So I don't like it when a movie that I want to see has elements that I don't want to see.

For a while there, while I was living in Provo, we had Clean Flicks and the like all over the place so I was able to enjoy edited versions of these films and find such gems as Love Actually, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the bestest, most awesomest film in the world -- Shaun of the Dead.

Then Hollywood, being the greedy, worldly, evil corporation that it is, decided to destroy the edited film industry as we know it (although Family Edited DVDs does still seem to be out there), even though there is obviously revenue to be made on these types of films and Hollywood already does make their own edited versions of these films for airlines and TV and they could, in reality, sell them to the public!

But I digress. . .
So Beth and I decided to purchase a ClearPlay DVD player upon the recommendation of a few friends. Here's how it works: You buy the DVD player (from the internet, from the TV ad phone number, or from a kiosk in the mall) and you also buy a "subscription" from the ClearPlay people. The DVD player comes with a FilterStick (a thumb drive) that you plug into your computer and download the list of movies that ClearPlay has on their website. The one thumb drive can fit thousands of movie filters on it. Then you just plug the stick back into your DVD player and you're good to go. The subscription, just in case you were wondering, is so you can get the latest DVDs titles as they update it.

When you insert any DVD that you've rented or own the player will search the stick for that DVD's filter and then automatically load it. Then, and this is the best part, you can set the levels you want it to edit to low, medium or high filtering. They have a ton of different categories that you can edit, too, such as: vulgarity, nudity, blasphemy, violence, bloodshed, disrespect parents, disrespect flag and even mushiness (Thank goodness! Mushiness is icky!).

Then, as you're watching the movie, it will mute or jump forward for a split second to avoid what you told it to avoid. And you can always bump up the filter (or bump it down) while you're watching the movie.

We're still working out some kinks here and there, and the technology isn't perfect, but at least it's a step in the right direction.

So this post pretty much sounds like an advertisement, but it has just been fun to rent all these movies we've been wanting to see but haven't wanted to rent and we just wanted to spread the word to any who are interested.

Plus, we've installed ClearPlay on our blog so we [edited for content] our [edited for content] in case of [edited for content] frogs [edited for content] bucket [edited for content] Beth says I never post [edited for content] time-lapse [edited for content] Slice of Fried Gold [edited for content] and we haven't seen [edited for content] LOL cats [edited for content] and finally, [edited for content].

Hmmmmm, maybe I have the filter set too high. . .[edited for content]!!!

We love Sweet's!

This past Wednesday Kaylee and I went to the Sweet's Candy Factory with my mom, Kim, Brooke and their kids. It was a lot of fun! If anyone is interested they give a free 40 minute tour of their factory (http://www.sweetcandy.com/). I'm pretty sure us adults had more fun than the kids, but the kids still enjoyed it. We watched how they make their candy and got samples throughout (that was both the kids and the adults favorite part). At the end you can purchase discounted candy in their shop. I'm pretty sure that's why they give you the samples throughout. You can't help but buy the delicious candy at the end.

My favorite parts (besides the hairnets and samples) were the jelly beans without the shells (they should make them that way... yum!) and the pipes running above our heads filled with chocolate and corn syrup (it felt like we were visiting Willy Wonka's Factory).

Everyone, including babies, had to wear a hairnet because you walk right next to the candy. Kaylee did so well at keeping hers on and she looked so stinkin' cute!

We each got a bag of taffy at the end. Even Kaylee. She loved hers.

The whole gang looking hot in our hairnets and showing off our candy at the end of the tour.


Before the tour. They have strollers for you to use. Notice the gummy bear on the rug to the left of Kaylee. It was a fun place. (This is out of order, but my internet browser is being weird and won't let me cut and paste pictures to change it.)

Kaylee absolutely loved her bag of candy (she also loved when I let her suck on a piece of taffy).

He's home!!!

We had a fun, eventful day yesterday. Nathan got in a little after 10:30. We were all able to meet him at the airport and afterwards a bunch of us did a session at the Salt Lake temple. He was released at 5:00 and afterwards we had a garlic shrimp and steak dinner in his honor. Then Kelsi had a choir concert at 7:30 (which she did great in!) and we watched the American Idol finale afterwards (which I thought was amazing). Nathan saw a friend at the concert and hung out with him instead of watching AI with us. I thought he'd be weirder after getting back, but he's actually adjusting quite well. Already hanging out with friends, hugging girls, driving alone, staying up past midnight, etc. Here are a few pictures from the airport and Kelsi's concert. It was a great day!

There he is!

Proud uncle

Kelsi presenting him with his new phone: a hot pink razor (Paige's old one that became Kelsi's till Nate came home. Don't worry... he'll be getting a new one).

Kelsi's concert showcased 2 choirs and then the individual best talent within the choirs. Kelsi is/was in AWE (Advanced Women's Ensemble) and her and 3 friends sang a pretty song at it and did awesome! They performed this for Solo and Ensemble and got the highest score possible. Yay Kelsi!

Our little girl

...is 6 months old today (the 14th)!!! She's growing up so fast! We're so grateful for her. She is seriously the sweetest baby ever. She's got such a cute laugh and she smiles all the time (except when I'm taking a picture because she's too interested in the camera). I just love her cute personality (even when I swear she gives me a "what are you thinking, Mom?" look). She loves learning and exploring new things (toys, foods, textures, sights, etc.). It's a lot of fun for us.

Here is a picture of Kaylee less than a week old followed by a bunch of recent pictures from my cell phone. I can't believe how much she's grown!

Kaylee and Daddy taking a nap. She slept with her arm behind her head back then too. Look how tiny she is!

Stylin' girl. Sometimes she actually keeps her sunglasses on for a few minutes before deciding to eat them.

Check out those thighs! Little chunk.

Bundled up for a walk.

This is one of my new favorite baby items, as well as Kaylee's. You put the food in the mesh bag and she can feed herself. She's eating her favorite: avocado.

Another sunglasses picture. These were some I tried on her while at a store, so I could send the picture to Joel.

On a walk again. Can you believe those blue eyes?!

Kaylee really loves her food! She had a lot of fun this day. After eating her avocado I poured some carrots on her tray and let her splash in them. She loved it! It was messy, but worth it.

P.S. We have a counter at the very bottom of our blog that shows exactly how old she is.

Nate's coming home!

My brother, Nathan, is getting home from his mission next Wednesday (May 21). I'm so excited! He's been a wonderful missionary serving in the Michigan, Lansing mission for the past 2 years. I can't wait to see him and for him to meet my amazing husband and daughter! He'll also be meeting 2 other nieces for the first time (Macee and Jinnie) and seeing Ryan for the first time in almost 4 years!

I've been trying to explain Nathan to Joel so that he'll know what to expect, but I don't think I'm doing him justice. He is very driven, but also loves to have fun. Here are a few pictures that are totally Nate...

This is one of my favorite pictures of Nate from before his mission. My friends saw Nate at a BYU football game and had to get a picture for me. I'm glad they did! Nathan loves BYU football!

Mom, I chose the picture you're crying the least in. Here's my mom putting Nate's nametag on at the MTC.

I have no idea who that other guy is or where this was taken. It's Nate and (I'm guessing) a companion on his mission.
This grosses me out, but I had to put it on. This is some guy skinning squirrels. Here's a quote from one of Nate's emails, "On Wednesday we got home from district meeting, and we had a message on our answering machine from a part-member family that they were cooking up some squirrel if we wanted some. So we went over there and had some squirrel for dinner. Squirrel stew to be more exact. It was actually really good...tastes kind of like chicken." Yuck!
Nate with 2 other missionaries in front of one of the lakes.

Poll

I have no clue why the poll choices aren't showing up. Joel and I have tried messing with the colors and everything, but nothing is working. If you highlight the options you can read what they are. (FYI: Curly is the 1st choice, Straight is 2nd)

Help me!!!

I need some major help with looking older. Yesterday I was at the temple for my cousin, Sara's, wedding and a temple worker told me I looked too young to be in there. I said something along the lines of, "yeah, I look young for my age." She responded with, "yes, but I mean you look really young. I would guess you were 14."

WHAT?!?!

14?!?!?

I'M 24!!!

It's not as though I was wearing some trendy dress or something. Actually, I thought my shirt and skirt looked quite mature. I was wearing makeup too, so it's not like that would throw her off.

I realize that someday I'll love for people to think I'm 10 years younger than I really am, but not now. Not when I have a baby and people think I'm a teenager.

This lady isn't the first person to tell me I look a lot younger than I am. A month or so ago a good friend of mine told me I can easily pass for a 16 year old. And a few years ago I always had adults looking shocked when they asked me which high school I went to and I informed them I was a senior in college.

So.... I need suggestions. What can I do to look older/more mature? Do I need to change my makeup? Clothes? What?

How about my hair? I just barely got it cut. It goes to my armpits. The hairstylist I found is an expert with curly hair, but you kind of have to do it curly every day to get the look she does (you have to train the hair). So here's a big question for everyone (I think I'll put up a poll about it): should I go curly or straight the majority of the time? Right now I do about half and half, which is nice to be able to do, but if I continue with it neither way (straight or curly) will look as good as it can. I realize it's hard to decide since my hair doesn't look amazing either way yet. If I finally decide between the two I can get the perfect cut for curly/straight hair, as well as train the hair to do the one I want.

Also, would coloring my hair help me look older? I finally have it grown out to my natural color and was trying to keep it that way since I'm the worst person at touching up my roots, but if color will help me I might be willing to do it. I've heard of a new style where you put lowlights under the top layer and it give the hair more dimension, but you don't have to worry about roots.

Please please please help me! I don't want to look 16 or 14 or even 19 anymore!

I can't look at the cake anymore!

Seeing the pictures of the wedding cake is making me crave cake something terrible. And not just any cake. That exact amazingly delicious cake. I've decided to do another post, so it won't be the first thing I see when I open the internet.

This is a cute video. As I've mentioned before, Kaylee loves her food. This is her trying a pickle for the first time. Notice her complete lack of a reaction (maybe she's saving it for when we give her a lemon).

YUMMY!!!!!!!!

It was a few months after our 1 year anniversary, but Joel and I ate our wedding cake.... and it was delicious!!!!! Thanks to my mom who took the time to wrap it perfectly over many hours, so it would last this long. I should have made it look more presentable for the picture, but I seriously couldn't wait to eat it. The sad thing is I ate most of the cake by myself within 3 days. Yikes! It was so good though!

I'm so happy with the cake we had. It looked cool, matched my wedding colors, and tasted amazing! Here are some pictures from the reception (notice how nice we were when we fed each other the cake).