Proud to be an American

I found this video on a blog belonging to a dear friend of mine from high school. Just a quick side story, David graduated the year before I did, but in all honesty, he was one of my top favorite people at school; I just thought he was ACES! Don't you love it when we find a long-lost friend to find they are doing something AWESOME? Like in David's case... oh yes, he's in law school on the east coast prepping for the bar exam. Wow. Just... wow!

Anyway, I got pretty choked up watching this video that he found. Though we don't talk about politics very often on our blog, we're a surprisingly political family and it is discussed daily in our home. So watching videos like this really do tug on the heartstrings.

Enjoy. And have a safe and wonderful Fourth of July. I hope you will listen carefully to the video and contemplate the words from the Declaration of Independence:

Twitter just may be the death of blogging (and thoughts about being a WAHM)

With apologies, I start this post to my family to explain why I haven't been keeping this blog updated. (But if you stay tuned, I'll spill all the juicy stuff about being a Work at Home Mom, too!).

I blame Twitter.

Twitter is a site where you can publish mini-blogs, keeping your friends, family, and "followers" updated as to what you're up to at all times, if you wish. Often times (especially in my case), it's just a bunch of random stream of consciousness postings. But when you're using Twitter regularly, it puts you into this groove of trying to compact your posts into 140 characters or less. So blogging on your regular blog, and being able to be "chatty", once again becomes a challenge. Anyone who uses Twitter regularly can relate, I'm sure. But heaven knows I love it!

*thinking*

Oh hey, Scott came home today after a LOOOONG week in Chicago. Next time I'm for sure going with him. I have a group of friends living there that I'm dying to go sightseeing with. But more importantly, being home all week with an active toddler was hard work... especially because I've been incredibly busy working myself and I REALLY missed Scott).

Speaking of my work (The Hip Homemaker, in case you don't already know)... things are going TERRIFIC! It takes up every spare moment I have, so I have to keep a schedule in order to maintain a balance. In fact, we've talked about hiring a maid. (Honestly, how ridiculous does THAT sound? FYI, we probably won't.) We're both Work at Home Parents, but our work keeps us both super busy.

Now, if you're a parent wanting to work from home (I'm talking about my work as a website owner, not what my husband does... that requires a degree and at least a decade of training/experience!), let me just give you fair warning: it's a pretty rocky and frustrating start. It takes a ton of persistence and learning. And even then, I've found --thanks to others' experience-- that it takes *AT LEAST* a year and a half before you start to see a respectable return for your time.

HOWEVER, that said, I can't even begin to express how blessed I feel that Scott even suggested this for me. I love that he would see that potential in me as a homemaker to be capable of creating a website about it. And the best part? He rarely helps me with the technical side because he knows I have to figure it out for myself in order for it to stick, but sure enough, he is always there if I NEED him.

Building my website has been the perfect fit for me, and it has been sincerely fun learning the ins and outs of how to build a website using just html and css. Plus, I've made friends in the web business that I never would have expected to meet otherwise, and every one of them has been *incredibly* helpful. (Nisha, Todd, and Lindsay, specifically.)

So if you're like me and would love to be a Work at Home Mom (WAHM), let me suggest two different routes:

1. Blogging through a free blog service. Services such as Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad, etc., will do all of the grunt work for you. For example, they submit your work to the search engines, filling in your ALT and META tags for you. (Those tags are used so search engine spiders will find and index you.) If you like using a WYSIWYG editor (What You See is What You Get), this is the way to go. But do beware... in my opinion, this is a much slower way to monetize. I have heard from other professional bloggers that it took them a good five years before being able to make money (equivalent to a part-time job) from ads on their website.

2. SiteSell. This is what I use, personally. It is quite a bit more expensive of a package than other web hosting sites, I won't lie, but you get SO much more. You get quite a lot of training about how the Internet works and how the search engines find you (far more complicated than I imagined!). You do begin to learn html through this service, but there is always infinite amounts of support. So even with tiny questions about how to do ads, or even the big questions about writing javascripts and dealing with copyright laws... there are always tons of people there to answer your questions. And thanks to Nisha, I made the switch over to building my site from the very bare bones up. I most definitely prefer having full control over the site's html, manipulating it to my liking.

If you're considering being a Work at Home Mom, my overall opinion of it is that it's more work than a regular job, but being home to watch my baby grow up is priceless.

What talent!

I have crazy respect for Lindsay from Penguin Stands Alone. She is such an amazing artist, I can hardly bear it!

Check out the new header she did for The Hip Homemaker:


If you're looking to have someone make truly unique party invitations, a vibrant and gorgeous blog header, or even a caricature for your social networking profiles, I can't recommend Lindsay enough! She is fantastic!

Happy Birthday, Precious Baby

Our tiny Micah is officially TWO today!

Micah started his day early at 6 am with the opening of presents.

Then it was off to Disneyland where he donned his cute Tigger overalls that his dad picked out for him and a button they give out to help remind the cast members to wish you happy birthday. On the rides, I could hear Micah say, "WEEE!!!" over and over. So cute. After riding on Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Micah raced back to the exit gate where we left, and screamed to be let back on. No dice. Instead we moved on to the petting zoo....

...which turned out to be one of his favorite parts of the day. He got to pet goats and sheep.

Then after the day at Disney, we went to Islands Restaurant in Manhattan Beach. Micah received a sundae with a candle in it, and this look of sheer excitement is priceless!

Right this second, his grandparents have him at the park near their home in LA, and Grandma even made chocolate cupcakes! Yum!!!

A Father's Day Trip to Disneyland

For Father's Day, Laurie decided to let Andy take Micah for a day and we went off to Disneyland. It was bittersweet, as I didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with the reason why I'm a father, but we had a lot of fun. We got through a ton of the rides, especially the ones we most wanted to go on, and I don't think a trip to Disneyland is truly complete unless you hit all of the "Mountains". So, here was our day:

We hit the new Finding Nemo ride first, and we were glad we did! We were halfway through the short 45 minute wait and the line exploded behind us, becoming a two to three hour wait for those people! The new ride was just alright though - but I think Laurie really liked it. We moved on from there and hit Space Mountain, and it was great as always! But one of the best parts - the line was half as long as normal! I think that Disneyland was not the destination of choice for Father's Day. We went over to the Matterhorn and did some Bobsleddin'. Then we noticed that Star Tours had a 15 minute wait (it didn't feel that long) and so did the Astro Blasters (they are right across from each other) so we hit those up. I am typically THE MAN at Astro Blasters, but Laurie ended up kicking my butt (for those not in the know - Astro Blasters is a ride that lets you shoot a laser gun at Emperor Zurg and his minions, and it tallies points). She beat me by a good 10,000 points or so! So I left with my tail between my legs....

On to lunch. Basically, if you can avoid eating lunch at Disneyland, do it. The prices are ASTRONOMICAL. I believe it was $8.57 for a Bacon Burger and fries. BUT - we got our 9.00's money's worth with the fruit plate they offered. It was TO DIE FOR. And I don't typically eat a lot of fruit. But seriously, get the fruit plate. It worked. While eating, we saw a new show called Jedi Training Academy where kids were picked out of the audience to come up and participate. The Jedi trainer was hilarious as he said things in a voice identical to George Takei's things such as, "Don't trip on your umbilical cord on your way up," and "Now that's confidence, you're going places, Kid." The accent and tone of his voice was bizarre, but the show was great.

After lunch, we went over across to Frontierland and we were able to hit up Big Thunder Mountain Railroad with hardly any wait. Then we got an Indiana Jones fastpass and then saw that a new show was starting up. It was an Indiana Jones themed live show, and it was cute....although the actors really need to work on their punching skills. One thing Laurie and I both agree with though - Indy was hitting a female in the show. He was justified in the situation, but I'm not sure I approve of showing kids that it's okay to punch women.

After that show, we needed a break from the heat and our feet. We went in to see The First 50 Years in the movie theater with Steve Martin and Donald Duck. Fun times! I appreciated the cool air inside the theater and the fact that we didn't have to stand up to see it. The show was alright too.

After the show it got considerably more cooler so we decided to brave Splash Mountain. But on the way there was no wait for the Haunted Mansion so we said what the heck and headed in. It was a experience to raise the spirit, that's for sure!

Next, we went over to Splash Mountain and were in a line that could have taken an hour and a half - BUT - a very nice person had some fastpass tickets they couldn't use! So they handed them off to us! We easily saved an hour as we whizzed past the line and got right into the boat. So that was the GOOD part. The bad part - we were in the very front of the boat, with Laurie in the first seat. Which meant that we got the brunt of the waves. The 50 foot drop wasn't really the problem. It was the smaller drops - they dumped a few gallons into the log canoe.

So then we sloshed over to Indiana Jones and used our fast passes to get through the majority of the line. Unfortunately Laurie looked into the eye of the idol so we almost got crushed by a huge boulder....but we survived. We decided that I should be able to see my son on Father's Day, so we called it an early day.

Lastly Laurie treated me to a dinner at one of my favorite restaurants - Outback Steakhouse! That filet is wonderful, and they've got a blue cheese chopped side salad that is great. And then I got to get home and wrestle with my 2 year old (-2 days) son and watch the Lakers game with Andy, Mom, and Laurie. Good times!!!

Micah's 2nd Birthday, Yo Gabba Gabba!

Today we celebrated Micah's 2nd birthday! As I mentioned in the post directly below this one, we had a Yo Gabba Gabba! themed party. We had the party at a park in El Segundo and we had a HUGE turn out of family and friends! (But if you weren't there and you're reading this, you were missed, and we noticed... just letting you know...)

This is Micah's cake that I made for him. I will be posting a how-to on The Hip Homemaker soon, so you can make one for yourself if you like. This cake took about 7 hours from start to finish, and even then, Scott assisted me in mixing the colors.

We also made character balloons which seemed theme appropriate since Yo Gabba Gabba anthropomorphizes trees, hills, food, etc. (which is amusing in my opinion!). These balloons were super easy to make with some helium-filled balloons, construction paper and some good glue.

Muno

Plex

Foofa

Brobee

Toodee

DJ Lance Rock

Daddy and Micah

Micah reaching for the balloons. It was a TAD windy!

I love this stance. How adorable.

Micah blows out the candles on his cake. Just kidding! ... We didn't light the candles due to the wind, but we heartily sang Happy Birthday nonetheless.

Micah bites his birthday cake.

On the agenda for the rest of our vacation: Disneyland, ocean/beach (aka therapy!), and LOTS of visiting of family and friends.

"I Eated It"... and thoughts on Yo Gabba Gabba!

"Hey Dad! Remember how yesterday you bought us all a chocolate donut so that we could eat them for breakfast before you left for the airport this morning? Well, I found your donut that you completely forgot about in your rush to get out the door. AND I EATED IT."

Seriously, to say he "ate the donut" doesn't quite give the image of this little kid devouring Scott's chocolate donut. It was quite the sight.

Today when we got home, I immediately started changing into my pajamas for a day of rest. Micah saw me, and he promptly stripped off his pants and handed them to me to fold up and put away. Then after destroying that donut that he pulled off the kitchen table, he laid his blanket onto the floor and was rolling around in pure ecstasy!

Oh, and today when dressing Micah he yelled at me for trying to put on shoes that are officially too little. So I had to make an emergency stop to get Micah some bigger shoes, because making my kid go barefoot on a Sunday seemed... untidy? Neglectful? UNSANITARY? Whatever. Scott wanted to see them, so I'm posting a picture of them. Look how cute those little Cars-themed shoes are. I think Grandpa Andy will like them, too. Micah was pleased as punch when we were at the store, picking them out.


And immediately after I took that picture of Micah rolling around with chocolate on his face, I snapped this cute picture. Wanna know what I said to get him to smile?

"Yoooooo Gabba Gabbaaaaaa....." He's been watching that a lot lately. A LOT. They've officially replaced Barney who is now "ho-hum". In fact, truth be told, I was planning a Barney birthday party for this upcoming Saturday, even snagging an old Barney cake pan on ebay, winning the bid against another mother with the same theme in mind.... and now look. I had to change my entire strategy! If Micah could talk in complete sentences, I swear he would say, "MOM! BARNEY IS SO SIX WEEKS AGO!"

In fact, this next story goes to show how disconnected we've felt living here in Utah with our SoCal friends....

I first heard of Yo Gabba Gabba! last year when they spoofed it on E!'s The Soup:



...and then all the sudden, this Brobee video was popping up EVERYWHERE:



....and eventually, we learned that The Aquabats were somehow affiliated... but didn't think TOO much of it. It was more of, "Yay, this show is for little children AND hipster parents. We love it!"

THEN, last night we were watching it together before Micah went to bed. We paused the credits to find out that Scott's friend, Emma, the former Relief Society President in his Huntington Beach singles ward is Foofa, the pink one! She and Scott were in the ward choir together and I remember the first time I met her, I was attending Scott's ward and she sat next to me and struck up a conversation. She was incredibly sweet.

Out of curiosity, I turned on another episode (we have them all saved on our DVR) called "Happy" where she has like three solos. And as she was singing in that sweet and nurturing voice, Scott smiled and said, "Yeah, that's Emma alright. That is SO Emma. Even in the way she's moving, I can tell that's her." I couldn't find a video already posted online, but did find this MP3 of her singing "Happy" from that episode.

Seriously... how could we NOT have known that was her?? We've been watching this show for months now, totally unaware, not even bothering to read the credits!!

But can I just tell you how awesome Yo Gabba Gabba is? They focus on social etiquette, acting out different scenarios, and teaching what appropriate behavior looks like (like not biting your friends, for example). They teach kids to appreciate music, which is especially important in this age when music classes are being phased out of schools. Instead, they are encouraged to get up and dance with these cool characters. And the coolest part? They have guests such as Mark Mothersbaugh, Biz Markie, etc. and indie bands such as Smoosh, that appeal to us hipster parents. I LOVE it! I get such a kick out of Yo Gabba Gabba!. I really do.

To learn more about Yo Gabba Gabba!, you can watch behind the scenes interviews here. Just click on Yo Gabba Gabba! down on the left hand side of the navigation bar.

Killing Time

As I write this, Scott is on a flight back home. I have been counting the minutes all day today, waiting for 12:00 am to roll around!

"They" say absence makes the heart grow fonder and perhaps that's true. All I know is that I noticed how empty our house feels without him here, how much he does to help me out, and that his friendship, love, and companionship were missed to the point where I know I would feel complete anguish if he were to be away just one minute more! Now, I know he's got other trips planned for the very near future, but at least now I know what it will be like without him here and I'll feel more prepared emotionally. The same goes for Micah who has looked for his dad every day.

At the same time, I know that him working at home and being around him 24/7 has been WONDERFUL as well. The previously mentioned "they" say that being around someone all the time would cause friction. Oh puh-lease. I'll never tire of him. He held my hand at the zoo last week and my heart almost burst at his touch. He kissed me passionately at the airport and my head swam the entire drive home. I get dizzy just thinking about it. We've been together three years and I still have the fireworks for him that I did then.

OK, so this post helped me pass about ten minutes. Two more hours. Just TWO more!

Update: 12:30. Ugh, baggage claim took forever, but now he is in a cab on his way home! (He's emailing me from his Blackberry to my laptop as I sit on the couch, waiting impatiently! Hurry cab driver. But, uh, safety first, of course.)

Update: Ooh! Ooh! Cab pulling up!! And with that, I am OUT!!!

While Daddy is Away

We shall continue to play!

Scott is currently on a short business trip to Des Moines.

Since this is Daddy's first real business trip away from us (except for the time he had to go to NYC for a day or two last year for an interview, making this the second time EVER that I've been away from my cherished companion since we've been married), Micah and I have been making the best of it! Today we built a fort for the first time, and Micah thought that was pretty dandy!



We also indulged in watching episodes of Yo Gabba Gabba! and we even ordered a pizza. (Gasp!)

Dad is so jealous right now.

(I miss you, lover!)

Animals Being Natural

This weekend we took a trip up to Hogle Zoo. Instead of putting all of my photos on this one blog post, I put them on Flickr instead, so you can peruse them if you even care to. Plus, I don't know the names of all the animals... it did occur to me that Kipluck will probably be able to name every single one of them, though.

Oh, shoot, I can't resist posting a couple favorites, such as this little guy, casting his voodoo spell on me as I snapped a picture:



And also... I realize this is Utah, but is this... a HOUSE CAT???



Click on either of these photos to see more!

Oh, and something else kinda funny happened. Right before going to the zoo, we went out for breakfast, and as we came back to the car, the battery to our KEY died! We are able to open the car door using the key, but the alarm still goes off, and then we have to wait until it stops to be able to start the car. I had no idea car keys died like that! Our SUV isn't even three years old! Just barely two years. Anyway, be forewarned if you use one of those keys with the alarm buttons built in!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

To the ultimate Beatles fan:



Happy birthday, Mom! We can't wait to see you again in just a very short time!

Hilariously Awful!

I about peed my pants when I clicked on a link that brought me to this website. A list of 50 of the worst album covers of all-time. However, flipping through them (I'm sure I looked at them twenty times!), I couldn't help but laugh. So very, very funny.










Click here to view all fifty!

I did it!

...and Scott forced me to figure it out by myself, thank goodness.

I was always just a touch unhappy with the very basic template for my website, The Hip Homemaker, my little project that keeps me busy. A friend, who happens to be a computer engineer, even commented that he thought I could do better than that. So I did... I took my basic html knowledge and increased it a hundred fold while coding my new professional looking template, AND learning about css. It took me about a week to figure it out, and though Scott is a total css expert, he wanted me to do it for myself so that I'd KNOW how to do it. But he was there in case I was really turned around, because all he has to do is GLANCE at my html work and know what was wrong. Luckily, I only used him once or twice, I swear.

So yeah, I'm proud of myself. My coding and template work!

Click here to check it out!

Now I just have to plug in my 300+ pages into the new template... oy....

UPDATE: I forgot to add.... pay no mind to the header, it's a temporary one. That part is being re-done by a professional graphics artist, Lindsay, who did my caricature!

Micah's First Pool

Scott picked up for Micah an inflatable swimming pool! Today it was about 90 degrees outside, so in the afternoon, I put Micah into his brand new Cars swimming trunks (and a t-shirt because I'm paranoid mommy when it comes to sun damage), and we went out into the backyard for some fun.

The water was cold, obviously, so he never actually sat down in it, but had a GREAT time splashing around for about an hour. Notice the pacifier. Every time we break him of that habit, he'll go weeks without having one, but then out of nowhere, one will just magically appear in his mouth! Sneaky! And also, he's holding a silk flower from an arrangement set to go to D.I. *sigh* My baby... he is who he is!

And apparently he is a little boy with a sword!

As I was sitting next to the pool, playing with him and taking tons of pictures, I noticed the snow-covered mountains in the distance. I remember moving to Utah in 1992 and finding them to be full of mystique. How can it be 90 degrees with the mountains still covered in snow? I love it, and I will miss the Utah mountains.


Later in the evening, we made the most INCREDIBLE Peach Pork Ribs. (Click for the recipe) They turned out awesome!

Oh, and of course since we were all outside again, Micah hopped right back into the pool! He just wanted to play some more. This time he got soaked!

At the end of the evening, Scott emptied the pool into our very thirsty lawn! I'm sure it appreciated it after it's been so incredibly windy and dry lately. Poor lawn.

I like it when Scott does the grocery shopping

He always brings me home fresh flowers and says they're from him and Micah. I'm perfectly OK with that. Especially when they come in the form of pink mums. What could possibly be cheerier?

If you can hold back the tears...

...I would be impressed. (More to come on that in just a second.)

This is how I know my husband KNOWS me. And loves me. After sleeping in and being allowed to come downstairs at my own leisure, I found several lovely surprises. Even Micah raced to me with a huge, "HI!!!" as though he was waiting to surprise me also. The house was clean, dishes done, Scott had taken care of brunch. I didn't have to lift a finger!

Then Scott told me that he had saved something for me on the DVR.

I watched it and cried my eyes out.



That song featured in the video, "Baby Mine" is one of my top three favorite lullabies, and I have sung it to Micah countless times in the early morning hours, rocking him back to sleep. I have sincerely loved it from the time I first heard it as a little girl watching Dumbo. Growing up, I can honestly say that I never dreamed of the details of my wedding day like all of my friends. No, my own dreams and visions were filled with the longing to become a mother, with that very lullaby being the soundtrack to my dreamiest fantasies of cradling my baby.

When Micah was born, I put together a CD gift for him full of wonderful lullabies to help me put words to my profoundly indescribable feelings for him. Scott even has that play list on our main iPod, making it accessible at all times.

If you are searching for great lullabies, here is a list of just SOME of our favorites (in no particular order):

Baby Mine (I like the Alison Krauss and/or Bette Midler versions best)

Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) by Billy Joel

Godspeed, Sweet Dreams by The Dixie Chicks

Return to Pooh Corner by Kenny Loggins

Peterborough and the Kawarthas by Barenaked Ladies

When You Dream by Barenaked Ladies

The Things We've Handed Down by Marc Cohn

The Rainbow Connection

A New Day has Come by Celine Dion

Father and Daughter by Paul Simon

Beautiful Boy by John Lennon

Lullaby by Jack Johnson

Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

Somewhere Out There by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram (I was particularly sensitive to this song while Micah was in the NICU and I had to leave him every night.)

For Micah's MANY Living Grandmothers

Just recently we had Micah's two-year old portraits done. Our regular photographer, Michelle, is on maternity leave, so we shopped around for another photographer. We decided to schedule with Lindi after seeing her portraits of our beautiful friend, Kristy.

Here are some of the results! A note to Micah's grandmothers: Our card with enclosed photographs should arrive by tomorrow if they haven't already. My apologies on getting them out just a day late!

(If anyone knows of a GREAT photographer in Orange County that *LOVES* taking pictures of children, we're going to need to find another one next year!)












Happy Mother's Day!

Grey

Let me tell you a little story about a dog named Grey.

His name isn't actually Grey, I believe he had another name, but (please forgive me Mom!) I forgot it. We needed a name for him, and Old Grey stuck. But Grey is what Micah calls him personally.

Micah's Grandma D (his paternal grandmother) gave him this puppy as a special gift, as it belonged to the highly-esteemed patriarch of the Thompson family before he passed away. It's as though Micah understands how special Old Grey is.

At Micah's bedtime and naptime, he lays down, and we then go through about seven of his stuffed animals, taking each one out of his bed saying, "Goodnight Cookie Monster. Goodnight Winnie The Pooh. Goodnight Old Grey." And we bring each one to his lips for him to kiss goodnight. We then place the animal up on the changing table where they literally watch over him until he wakes up again. When he does wake up, Micah then gets them all down and quietly plays in his bed for about a half hour or so.


Tonight in the car, Micah was sitting in the back seat and he kept saying, "Grey! Grey! Grey!" I turned around, not knowing what he was talking about, but sure enough there was Grey sitting on the seat next to him, but out of reach! As soon as I handed him to Micah, he kissed Grey on the mouth and cuddled him. In fact, when these pictures were taken of him, he did the same thing when we brought Old Grey from out of the diaper bag.

Another story:

We went out to dinner tonight since we were stuck in Salt Lake due to a clogged freeway heading back home.
Micah feeding himself his big boy dinner. He seems intimidated by the silverware. Honestly, I don't even care. I know he'll get the hang of it.

After dinner, I took him into the bathroom to change his diaper. He knew there was a package of two Oreos on his dinner plate. So while on the changing table, he kept saying, "cookie, cookie, cookie..." in the sweetest baby voice!

And of course, he got to eat his cookies on the ride home! He's licking it off his fingers in this pictrue. So cute.

Chasing David Archuleta

At this point, I believe Salt Lake City is used to having the world-wide spotlight. After all, we've hosted the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, the annual Sundance Film Festival, the Stockton and Malone days (oh those were good days!) and millions of people tune in bi-annually to listen to the latest straight from the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

We're known for "The best snow on Earth", the conundrum that is The Great Salt Lake, and every time I talk to someone who is just visiting or has visited, they always say without fail, "Salt Lake City is so CLEAN!"... and now we find ourselves in the spotlight once again for David Archuleta, a finalist in the latest season of American Idol.

If you have been tuning in to American Idol, you know that he is a fan favorite, and to me, he looks like every boy I went to high school with here in Utah. But his young seventeen-year old sweet naivety is glaringly obvious to the rest of the world.



My family has been cheering him on from day one, along with the rest of the locals. We know that tomorrow he is having his big homecoming parade, and you best believe we don't want to miss it!

We happened to be in Salt Lake tonight, and we were able to take some pictures of his high school where the activities will be happening. Tomorrow we will be back (along with the rest of Utah) to see if we can get a glimpse of that charismatic smile that is no doubt winning the teenage girl viewer votes on American Idol.

Be sure to check back again tomorrow to hear the rest of our experience in... chasing David Archuleta!

Outside the front of Murray High School, we see the marquee welcoming their student home.

Home of the Spartans.

A white tent covers the stage on the football field where Archuleta will perform for his classmates tomorrow morning.

The skywalk over State Street reads "David Archuleta: Murray's American Idol"

Several businesses show support for Archuleta. Hooters' marquee (Yes, HOOTERS!) reads, "Welcome back David Archuleta". A nearby Arby's sign reads, "I'm thinkin David."

*Tune back in tomorrow (May 9, 2008) to see if we actually got to see David Archuleta!*

For those of you in Utah, click here for the details on Archuleta's homecoming celebration.

UPDATE:

May 9, 2008
Well, we made it. As we walked into the football field of Murray High School, the mayor of Murray City was giving his speech about how he believes Murray to be the greatest city in the world with the greatest American Idol ever. (Hehe.)

It was incredibly crowded with estimates of around 20,000 people. I don't believe I have ever heard such cheering; it scared my poor toddler who has never experienced a large crowd like that before.

I have to say, in person, David Archuleta was totally adorable. He sounded great! He sang Ben E. King's "Stand by Me", followed by John Lennon's "Imagine". Then as an encore, Archuleta sang "Angels" by Robbie Williams.

The entire feel of the event was not unlike a high school pep rally. Archuleta made several appearances throughout the day, and was obviously a little tired by the time the homecoming at his high school began.

We just hope he had fun and enjoyed his special day.

David Archuleta on the stage at Murray High School with Fox 13 morning personality Big Buddah and a girl who started a website for people to write in and share their stories of how David has inspired them.

The following video was taken on our camera during David's performance of "Imagine". Because it was so crowded, it was impossible to get a good shot of him with our camera. Our apologies for the quality of this video.




Image of Salt Lake City via Byu.edu

Image of David Archuleta via famousmormons.net

Micah's new sound

This new little noise showed up yesterday, I believe. How is it that something could be SO hilarious and yet so completely precious and adorable?



Scott and I honestly can't believe how fun toddlers are. It's something new every day!