Happy Halloween!

This year Kyleena was a lady bug.
Heidi gave us these cute hair clips. Lucky us, they matched her Halloween costume perfectly!

This one's a little blurred, but she was pulling a funny face so I liked it.

These are all cell phone pics. Kyleena Trick or Treated at the mall Dairy Queen and they gave her a free ice cream cone...

.....yay......

Reason Halee Hates Nature TV

Doug always watches those nature shows and I just can't stand to watch animals eat eachother. Sure, I'm no vegetarian, but today on this special on coral reefs that Douglas tivod I learned about shrimp who ganged up on a starfish, flipped him on his back, and would then eat him to death for weeks.  I expressed to Doug then what I will express to you now: we may eat other animals, but we certainly don't put them on their backs in the kitchen and slowly eat them to death over a period of weeks. Nature blows.

Michael Jackson: King of Pop

I would be remiss if I failed to post something about Michael at this time. It took me a few days to get here, I was grieving in my own way; watching music videos, playing his music in my car, dancing around my living room with my 1 year old daughter who would hear the beat and-- without realizing mommy was sad-- just had to break out.


· I remember watching music video after music video when Erica and I were riding in the back of her family van all the way to Vegas and back.

· I remember requesting anything by Michael Jackson at every dance I ever attended, and playing something by Michael Jackson at every dance I ever DJ’d.

· I remember thinking it wasn’t coincidence that he became “King of Pop” when he swept the Grammys in January 1984 and I was born in February 1984. Even though I was due in January, I’m sure I said, “Come on! Let me stay and watch Michael win, I’ll totally miss it if I’m all born and junk!”

· I remember dancing to “The Way You Make Me Feel” on swing nights at the MAC.

· I remember looking through Kristen’s Michael fan folder and thinking, “Man, I really should think this is crazy, but I can’t help it. I love it!”

· I remember teaching “Beat It” to my Encore kids, and watching Encore perform “Beat It” on several occasions, always while I thought, “Nobody does it like Michael.”

· I remember teaching the “Beat It” dance at countless dances, parties, and classes.

· I remember teaching “Thriller” to a group of youth for a Halloween mutual activity.

· I remember dancing “Thriller” at homecoming on the football field my junior year and the summer after my junior year at BYU Young Ambassadors Camp. They almost wouldn’t let us perform it because it was kinda “dark” (Hello! Michael posted a disclaimer: This in no way expresses a belief in the occult. Duh!)

· I remember learning and teaching a dance to “They Don’t Really Care About Us” on 3 separate occasions.

· I remember seeing a jazz/lyrical dance to “Earth Song” when I was 12. That was what inspired me to dance other things besides ballet.

· I remember watching Ashley and Rick perform a Rumba in a dark studio to “Whatever Happens” off the “Invincible” album.

· I remember hearing “Invincible” for the first time when Ruthanne bought it and played “Privacy” loud and clear over the BHS dance studio speaker system.

· I remember dancing around mom’s Z3 convertible to “Come Together” and thinking Michael’s version beat the Beatles version 10:1.

· I remember driving in my car and hearing song, after, song, including two in one week that sang “mama say mama saw ma-ma-coo-saw” and thinking “ah, another Michael-inspired copy cat.

· I remember making a list of 3 Michael songs that I claimed, when played in the correct order, could turn me just the right amount of on... (Douglas, for your benefit they are—in very particular order—“Come Together” “Privacy” and “Dirty Diana” and for a bonus afterwards throw in “Blood on the Dance Floor.”)

· I remember making an entire mix based around wanting to play Alien Ant Farm’s “Smooth Criminal” right next to Michael’s “Smooth Criminal.”

· I remember seeing “Captain Emo” at Disneyland and thinking that Captain guy rocked! I also remember protesting the retiring of the attraction and seeing it one last time.

· I remember finally deciding ballroom was cool when I was scrutinizing the “Blood on the Dance Floor” video.

· I remember doing foetes over and over again to “Beat It” in my basement at Windsor Manor Court. I thought that was the BEST song for foetes ever, and it didn’t occur to me until right now that I probably owe the fact that those are so easy for me to that song and the hours of practice it encouraged.

· I remember learning the moves from his “95 MTV Video Music Awards” performance for the talent show. We were shocked and appalled that we didn’t make it.

· I remember making the coolest mix for a street dance out of his “Ghost Remix” and the kids loving the choreography.

· I remember begging for “ABC” or “I Want You Back” to be in our Encore Medley.

· I remember swearing I’d pay anything to see Michael Jackson live in concert. If he ever had a comeback, I’d be there.

· I remember freaking out when he did this little smile he’d sometimes do in the middle of a dance.

· I remember playing a part of “Man in the Mirror” over and over again and trying to count the pencil turns. I want to say he did 11?

· I remember teaching myself the moon walk but always being frustrated when I saw him do it better and on the tips of his toes.

· I remember practicing this move Michael did on the stairs, all the while thanking my ribs and cursing my feet.

Michael Jackson changed what dance was for me and for the world. He brought this funky, technical, sharp, isolated, style to the TV where everyone could witness the power of singing and dancing at the same time. He made it suddenly a requirement that if you wanted to be a huge pop star you’d have to be a triple threat. No more “white man’s overbite.” He pushed dancers to become better-- to study their field. To practice until you make perfect and then keep practicing so you never lose what God and all that practice gave you.

· I remember being inspired by his music and his performance in ways that changed me as a performer forever. He hasn’t just been another artist. He has been a part of my life and my culture for as long as I’ve been alive.

R.I.P.M.J.

Halee

Happy Birthday Douglas!

It's Dougie's 26th birthday today. We've got big plans:

• I'm picking him up from his new job (working as an R &D Engineer for Performance Automotive Group) and we're going out to lunch.
• When he gets home from work we're going to go buy him a new cell phone.
• Transformers! (He's like a little kid about this, he's so excited.)

All in all, it should be super fun to say the least. Anything where I get to hang out with him usually ends up being super fun.

Coming Soon: Guatemala

So we're back from our trip to Guatemala. I plan to blog all about it... but that'll come after we celebrate today first:::: (See Above!)

Kyleena's First Birthday Party Announcement

Kyleena's having her first ever birthday party. We plan to let her devour a cake. Her birthday is actually on May 9th, but that day is booked full of other things so the Saturday exactly one week following her birthday will do the trick.

Our Little Girl

Kyleena Raylyn is 9 months old now. She loves crawling all over the house. She's figured out that if mom or dad leave the room, she has an effective method of travel which can quickly carry her back to them. Once she arrives, she grabs our legs and uses them to hoist herself up to standing. Once standing, she burrows her head into us as if to say, "Don't leave me ever again!" Kyleena loves making noises, and she loves hearing noises. The best time for a good scream is when things get super quiet, for example sacrament meeting. She'll let out a good belt with a huge smile on her face as if to say "I echoed!" She likes her new, more advanced, baby foods. Some favorites include strawberry oat and banana orange. Kyleena will dance to something as simple as the snapping of one's fingers. She loves percussion! We think that maybe one day she'll be the drummer in a girl band.

Kyleena is also going through her separation anxiety phase. Sometimes she wants mommy, sometmes it's daddy. Usually she doesn't care which. However, the other day she actually showed a definite preference. We were all sitting on our bed and I was holding Kyleena. Doug kept trying to take her from me and she kept turning away as if to politely avoid him. Finally, he reached for her and she yelled in the snottiest voice we've heard from her yet "MOM!" Then she turned and gave me a huge kiss on the lips. haha. I'm still laughing thinking about that.

Roomies!

I found these old videos on my computer and I had to laugh. How could I not? These were some of my roomies my sophomore year at UVSC. At the time I lived with Camille, Meredith, Britta, Rachel, and Angie in Parkway Crossing. Featured in the videos are Meredith and Britta and Rachel, Halee, Meredith, and Britta.


I'm so happy I didn't live with a bunch of grown-ups!

Also, when I started this I didn't realize I was logged in as Doug. This is obviously Halee. I'll try and figure out how to change that.

I love these kissy pics! Kyleena had just started this new thing where she would grab my face, hold on tight, and just lay one on me.

Kyleena's 6 Month Photos

When Kyleena was 6 months old we took her to the Sharlot Hall Museum here in Prescott, Arizona for a little photo shoot. Our friend Lauren Shepherd was the photographer. Lauren caught some adorable mommy-daughter moments as well as capturing Kyleena at this sweet age.

Our Family

Our little family consists of Douglas, Halee, and Kyleena. Doug and Halee were married September 22nd, 2006. Kyleena was born on May 9th, 2008. We are all healthy and happy! I'll tell you more about us as time goes on (because obviously this is just a measly introduction.) But for now, that's who we are. We're glad you came to visit us and we hope we can entertain you enough to keep you coming back. :)