Denise Austin

push-ups from Alisha on Vimeo.



lunges from Alisha on Vimeo.


a fond memory i have of being young is waking up and working out with mom to denise austin. like mother like daughter!

Giving Thanks

As the annoying girl who always carries her camera around, you wouldn't believe that I forgot to take it with me all weekend!! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at Jeff's grandmothers home, with tons of food and pies. Jeff got to play football Thursday morning and is still recovering. Jill and I have been enjoying the cooler weather with extended walks (Jill wants to walk and not be pushed in the stroller) and playtime in the backyard. Last night we went to a party put on by Jeff's dad's family for Caitlin's fiance Ben. It was a blast. Good food, good people and good fun.
Jeff can attest to the fact that I'm not always positive about living in Arizona. I need to express my gratitude more often. Here's my top ten thankful list:

1. My husband JEFF. He's a worthy priesthood holder. He's very patient with me. He's a great cook. He has a desire to provide for us and works hard at it. Best of all he's amazing with Jill. Quick side note: I worked last night so I had to meet Jeff and Jill at church after my shift. He had Jill dressed in a shirt, tights and socks over the tights. The shirt is one of the longer shirts that you wear tight pants under and Jeff thought it was a dress. It was hilarious!! I'm blessed to have him on my team.

2. My sweet baby girl JILLIAN. Lately she's really started to hug and kiss us with purpose. I knew having a family would bring happiness but I never knew how fulfilling it would be. I will do anything to make her happy and keep her safe.

3. The new BABY IN THE BELLY. As a pregnancy that I've been slowly warming up too, I can now say that I'm getting excited. Jeff and I have been so blessed by Jill, I can't wait to see what joy a second will bring. btw, I had an ultrasound at work a couple weeks ago and the tech thinks it's a boy! I was only 12/13 weeks so I'll do it again in a few weeks for the final word. The tech took measurements and counted fingers and toes. . . all is in order, which brings me to...

4. Good HEALTH. Jeff, Jill and I have been very healthy and safe. I am grateful for my body that is able to protect and nurture my babies. I'm also grateful for Jeff's health that allows him to work hard and play hard.

5. My JOB. I was fortunate to get a great education in Nevada, that allows me the opportunity to make money where ever and when ever I may need it. As much as I complain about going into work I really enjoy being a nurse.

6. My HOME. Plenty of space, A/C, and keeper of my family.

7. My SAVIOR. Of-course this is #1. I have been studying the life and teaches of Jesus and I feel as though my love and gratitude for Him is 10 fold. Along with this I love my calling and am thankful for the primary children.

8. FAMILY and FRIENDS. Jeff and I both were raised by exceptional parents. We both have wonderful siblings that have growing families. Jeff and I also have good friends that are concerned about us and love us.

9. SLEEP. I love how I feel after a good nap. More than that, I love climbing into bed after the day and just relaxing. I look forward to this daily.

10. DANCE and EXERCISE. I've been able to take a couple dance classes and I still relish being in a studio. Allowing my body to move through space and feel the beat of music. . . I will never grow out of this. I also love to exercise and I am grateful that my body allows me to do so.

our little helper

lint collector from Alisha on Vimeo.


pushing basket from Alisha on Vimeo.


jillian can't help but help around the house. yesterday jeff was cooking dinner and found jill getting in the cupboard to help. luckily i had the camera handy.

jill loves laundry day!! jill loves to pull the wet clothes out of the washer and put them in the dryer, push buttons, and push the basket back to my room. of-course once the camera's rolling she's a little distracted from her chores.

you will never guess what happened!! and Veteran's Day fun

Yesterday the weather was awesome!! overcast and cool all day!! we've had record highs this month and it's really starting to wear on me. anyway, last night as we were watching the U of A and Oregon game the weather went nuts!! thunder and lighting and then this... little chunks of hail!! it was sweet!!! it reminded me of snow and made me long even more for cold weather.


As I mentioned, I'm hating the heat right now. Jeff and I decided to skip town last weekend for cooler weather. we headed up to jeff's cabin in strawberry az. it was so fun!! some of jeff's cousins and aunts were there. jill loved to follow Dayton (see picture below) around. we all had a bonfire on the last night with jeff organizing a survivor-like fire making game with the cousins. i loathed the thought of coming home. i relished in the big green trees of the mountains and the cool crisp air that has that smell. you know what i'm talking about. awww that morning smell of the air. i loved it!! the last night we were there our garbage even got ravished by a big javelina. it just looked like a huge nasty mean pig. it must of been a girl b/c we couldn't see tusks.
Dayton and Jill in the loft.

on saturday jeff and i went to the Natural Bridge of the Tonto Forest (i think it's tonto). it was amazing. this huge arch-way connected two mountains made two different types of rock. under the bridge was a fresh spring river. we got to hick all the way down and through the river under the bridge to the other side. it was really breath-taking. jill had a great time, laughing all the way down the mountain.

the top picture is right before we got to the bottom by the river.

this is the natural bridge.
here's me hiking on some of the rocks.


i couldn't have asked for a better weekend!

now it's really offical

last week i had myself convinced that i wasn't really pregnant. i've been feeling so good, no weight gain and no doctors appt yet. i was at walmart and i thought, "well i better buy another prego test to confirm that i'm not pregnant". (the lack of menses for three months never entered my crazy brain). seconds after i peed it was positive. what?! i was positive it would be negative.
so, tonight at work (i'm a nurse at the hospital) i decided to triple check. i got the doppler and an empty room. i found the new baby's' heart beat in less than a minute. so it's official...i'm pregnant.
points to ponder: the heart beat was approx 120 beats/minute. jillian always ran approx 140-150 beats/minute. with jill i was nauseated for a good portion of the pregnancy. with this one...well, refer to the above paragraph.
anyway, due date is may 29th and i am now convinced that this is really happening.

a day in the life of jillian

i wear my sunglasses at night from Alisha on Vimeo.




yep, still funny from Alisha on Vimeo.




stuck in the dishwasher from Alisha on Vimeo.

calling all english lit majors

i'm reading an old book called Robinson Cursoe. multiple times a chapter i run into a break in the sentence that looks like this " ..., viz., .." of-course in the book the ... are words and there are no quotations. what does this mean?

happy halloween

on monday jill got to ride on her first carousel. she loved it. she actually rode on the TIGER. i think she liked the tiger most of all. she kept tapping the tiger with little love taps.

for halloween jill and i were black widows. i made jills top from scratch. it was so hard to try and figure out how to make the shirt with long sleeves. i got pretty lucky that it fit perfect! jill's fake legs are attached to her arms so that when she moved her arms her little legs would move too.

she was so cute!!! she's just such a shaker and a mover now that it's almost impossible to get a good pic of her. i think though that both jill and i look great in this picture...not. jeff didn't dress up. hopefully next year his dream of being a white gorilla will come true.

monday we went to the cranes halloween party and had a blast. then on tues was trunk or treat. jill just loved to walk around amongst all the other party goers.