Life's a Party

Party #1 - Jesse's work had a family picnic at Reid Park, and afterwards we went to the zoo

Unfortunately, Jesse took his young men on an overnight campout, and got home later than expected, so we missed the entire picnic (almost, we made it in time to eat a cold hamburger and help clean up). And the huge apple pie that I had made as a side dish to take to the picnic had to be eaten entirely by me. Boo hoo.

But we did have a great time at the zoo. They had a little halloween set-up for pictures, so we got one of Lyla. But she was a bit tired after walking all over the zoo, so no smiles.


Party # 2 - My rad baby shower thrown by the most wonderful girl Camille Degomez

We played some great "Are-you-ready-for-a-boy" games. I will let you decide.

The first game was Name that Truck. Out of the eight trucks, I got 7 right, but I did get both names for Backhoe/Frontloader. I can thank my dad for that one, literally raising us on the seat of a tractor!

The second game was to see how many balls I could throw through a basket ball hoop. I got 9 out of 10. Although I like Trevor's counting better, according to him I got 10 out of 10, granted he was counting all my shots not just the ones I was making... smart little boy!

The third game was to see how many band-aids we could open and put on our partner in a minute. I got 11, and Eevi was the only one to beat me, and she got 12. Unfair advantage... she is a nurse (with mad nursing skills, including band-aid sticking), and she already has a little boy to practice on!

I got some great gifts. Diapers, Balls, adorable little boy outfits, and blankets. I also got a relaxation fountain.... that sucker's definately getting packed for in my ready by the door bag. Watch out labour, I'm coming prepared!

I must say there is a warm fuzzy spot in my heart for the handmade beanies from my friend Rachel! I got a strawberry and a pumpkin. It was just so original, I had never seen anything like them, and they made me laugh!

Party # 3 - My best friend Emily came to visit for the weekend and during her stay we got pedicures, ate some great food at El Charro Cafe, carved pumpkins, and had lots of girl time!

I was so excited to see her. I haven't seen her in 3 years. She was on a mission in Argentina, and then was trying to finish school at BYU-I, so she has been super busy. She is now an amazing spanish teacher in Las Vegas! Nobody makes me laugh like she does, it was such a great escape to just hang out with her this weekend.

No I did not actually eat raw pumpkin inards, but we did roast up the seeds, and eat them later!

Lyla and Daddy putting finishing touches on the pumpkins.

Lyla was running around, and slipped and fell in the pumpkin inards, so she spent the rest of the time with this cute pumpkin bum, and every time she sat down on the concrete she left a little bum print. Needless to say, there was some major hosing down afterwards!

Jesse is such a good dad, he taught Lyla how to play with fire. Safety first in this house hold, yep, that's our motto!

Jesse and Lyla showing off our sweet Jack-o-Lanterns when they were all finished. If you want to know, mine is just a traditional jack, Jesse's is his brand (if he were a cattle rancher : ), and Emily's is a ninja. Clever, Eh?

And here is just a cute picture of my Lyla girl, so happy to play with her pumpkins.

All lit up.

Party # 4 - Our ward Halloween carnival. We only got one picture, and that was on the way into the carnival. We were overtaken by Chile and Cornbread, and little cupcakes with candy corns on them, so naturally the camera took a back seat.

Party # 5 - Indian fry bread dinner at the Tucker's house on halloween. I don't have any pictures of this, but I can say that there was a lot of candy, cookies and cupcakes involved. It was great to see Jesse's family. And unfortunately we had to say goodbye to his sweet sister Erin and her family because they are moving to Texas. We will miss you guys!!!

Well that about does it for the parties. Phewwww! But I do have more pictures:

Lyla and Jesse outside on Halloween night, plugging in the lights, and preparing to give candy to trick or treaters.

And here are pictures of Lyla in her costume. I know there are alot, but she was just so darn cute. I think the highlight of my night was when some one said, "you must of made that yourself, they just don't make dresses like that anymore!" Yep I did. And it was insane. It took 8 yards of fabric, 7 yards of lace, 1 spool of thread, and 3 days to make! Thank goodness my Grandma Ginger had just cleaned out her garage and donated all her years of collected fabric, lace, and notions to me. So the costume was 100% free! To bad we can't use it next year for Spencer, yeah, I don't see that going well at all.

Poor Lyla was a heap of puffiness, but it was so adorable. She was trying to eat M&M's while wearing the dress, but she couldn't get them in her mouth because the lace on her cuffs got in the way! So here are some pictures of our "Little Bo Peep".

Oh, and these pictures are for Dani! She sent me this sweet pattern to make a wrap shirt. So I decided to whip it up (really it was so simple it only took 2 hours to make). It is cuter in real life than in the pictures, it looks like a bunch of gathered fabric and then just ties on the side.

Well, that had to be the largest post in Camry history. But it was fun filled couple weeks! Now we are looking forward to November so:

HAPPY NOVEMBER EVERYONE!!!

Life Recently

Last weekend we took a flight to Salt Lake City to go to Jesse's best friends wedding. We were so excited to be there and share this amazing event with them! Jesse and Tyler are like brothers and have been best friends since diapers. So of course we had to be there! Plus Jesse was the best man, so up to Utah we flew.

The wedding was beautiful. The sealing took place at the new Oquirrh Temple in West Jordan Utah. I love going to temple marriages. It was incredible to see two people bound together forever by the priesthood of God. Going to a live sealing always makes me think of my own wedding, and what I wonderful husband I was so lucky to marry!

But back to the Bride and Groom. Tyler picked an amazing wife! We love AmiCheri, and we can't wait to get to know her better. She was absolutely stunning... and they were both glowing. I'm not much of a photographer, but I did try to get some shots of them first coming out of the temple. I couldn't really take more because my babysitter (Jesse) had to be in the pictures, so I had to hang on to Lyla.

We also meant to take a family picture since we were already dressed up for a wedding, but we forgot... so here are pictures that we took of each other with Lyla outside the temple.

It was supposed to be warm and sunny in Utah, but it was not! It was cloudy and so cold... but lucky for me I came prepared, which was a miracle, because I am never prepared. I packed cardigans for Lyla and myself, and I packed Lyla some cotton tights... and thank goodness I did, because it was chilly!

After the pictures there was a beautiful luncheon in the Joseph Smith Memorial building. The food was great, and AmiCheri's aunt and cousin (I think) played live violin and piano music. It was lovely. Everything was so elegant and tasteful. It almost made me sad I didn't actually do anything for my wedding. I kept it really low key, and simple... but you know, you only get married once, might as well go all out, right? I would say "maybe next time" but I really hope I don't ever have a next time!

So of course I must post a smattering of pictures of my sweet girl, because I think she is adorable!

Lyla in Nana and Papa's back yard,

pretending to eat yogurt out of an

empty yogurt container she found

I just liked her eyes in this one! So blue

I sweet friend gave us halloween cinnamon rolls,

and Lyla hoovered them!!! (and so did I)

I was cleaning the bathroom, when I realized it

seemed awfully quiet... so I searched the house

to find my Lyla in the dryer. Funny thing is

I didn't leave the dryer open... she is learning all

sorts of new tricks these days!

Well fall is in full swing here at the Tucker house, and we have had lots of fun decorating for Halloween. I have some minature pumpkins and gourds sitting in a basket on the table, and Lyla has been placing them around the living room and carrying her basket around to pick them back up again. My little harvester! I'm debating wether or not to sew her a costume, or just dress her up as a scarecrow (which I think would be adorable!), but I can't decide.

Oh, one more thing, Lyla went potty on her little toilet today! We aren't potty training her yet, but she is fascinated with her little toilet, so we talk about how to use it alot. Well today she told me she was stinky, but she wasn't, and then she went and got her chair. So I took off her diaper, and she did the rest! Sweet deal for me. But she does lots of tricks once, and then never does them again. This will be one of those times. But I did try to play it up by clapping, giving her a piece of halloween candy, and cheering about it for a long time afterwards... in hopes that it will encourage her to do it again. We shall see.

Sure beats the smell of a clean house...

...Fried potatoes that is! This morning I took the rare opportunity to make and indulgent breakfast for my family. I always cook, but I usually keep it as healthy as possible. When we first got married I made fried potatoes, biscuits and gravy, and all the other tasty, but fattening feasts. Well due to weight gain, and a general feeling of unwellness, I stopped.

Well recently Jesse has been asking where the fried potatoes went. So this morning I decided to cook up a good ole Camry breakfast. It was so good, and so fattening, and so delicious smelling!
I love the smell of fried potatoes, and lucky for me, my house has smelled like it for hours... in fact as I write, I stop and sniff because my house smells that good!

I know it is a silly thing, but it sure did make me happy. And I like to be happy. Which is probably why we ate so many fried potatoes in the first place ; ) Maybe I will just have to have them sparingly instead of not at all. So in place of cleaning today, I am doing nothing, in hopes that the fragrant smell lingers as long as possible!

A Bit of the Crazies

So recently I got a bit of terrible news. The kind that makes you question just about everything... even your own sanity. I can't change it, I can only accept it. Or I can hate it.
(FYI, no one died).

At first I took it really well, it seemed so surreal, I just couldn't really grasp it. But the more time goes by, the more real it becomes. And it is starting to affect me negatively. In order to not let it get to me, I went through this phase (or am going through this phase) where I feel like I have to revamp my life. I am trying to be super wife/mom/woman, and I'm being hyper vigilant about everything. I even thought about starting a new blog about something... setting a goal to get through the 9 huge boxes of fabric I have saved (thinking this might give me purpose...yeah right).

I thought I could escape the past by being this insanely "ideal" person in the now and future. Escapism, what a cheap imitation for real coping.

But I don't want to cover up the real me with this stupid super-persona, or a blog that won't really help me become anything, except for maybe a little more pressed for time. I just want to be me, and realize that it is enough. My purpose and individual worth is not contingent upon anyone else, nor is my happiness a consequence of another persons happiness or unhappiness. I am not at the mercy of other peoples mistakes. I am Camry Tucker. I have a beautiful marriage, a wonderful daughter, a safe home, and one heck of a life.

So lately my emotions have been up, down, and all round. I might have a bit of the crazies, I think it runs in the family. But after all, don't we all have a bit of the crazies?