Green Smoothies

Alright, guys, gals, whoever reads this blog, the time has now come for me to share the secret to why I have such a rockin' body. Haha, JK.  Bruce, Madi, and I have been drinking green smoothies for a couple of months now and they are AWESOME! 

Bruce's mom Kari introduced us to the concept and to the GreenSmoothieGirl,who is right here in Utah Valley.  At first the thought of putting spinach in my fruit smoothie sounded nasty, but then I tried one and they are scrumdiddlyumptious! 

If you are new to the concept of green smoothies, here is a little overview. 

Who eats a big plate of plain, raw, kale, collards, spinach, and carrots? Mustard greens, chard, and celery don’t end up in too many salads. Just the time to chew it would be half an hour (oh, and the chopping)! They’re a regular feature in our green smoothies every day.  Bruce and I drink a quart every day, that's roughly 15 servings of fruits and vegetables. I also love that I can give them to Madi and not have to worry about her getting the nutrients she needs. And, with smoothies, you don’t have to drizzle them with fattening salad dressings that are full of chemicals. This is because the fruit masks practically all of the green taste, bananas are especially good at this.  So here you have a smoothie full of fruits and vegetables that tastes like something you would get at Jamba.   Yum and Yum!

Bruce and I have definitely noticed a difference in the way our body feels when we are drinking green smoothies and when we are not. I have noticed that I have more energy throughout the day and I'm a lot more productive.  The more I drink smoothies the less cravings I have for unhealthy foods (although, I still do enjoy my ice cream ;) ). And as an added bonus, I am 15 lbs lighter than I was before I got pregnant or even while I was doing gymnastics.  Granted, some of that weight loss is contributed to some muscle loss, but still.  All throughout college I struggled with weight, especially around my midsection and now....gone and gone! 

Here is a few of the GreenSmoothieGirl's videos demonstrating how to make a green smoothie and other delicious and healthy treats we love.  http://www.greensmoothiegirl.com/videos/videos-page-1/?/page_id=337

Anyways, if I haven't convinced you to jump on the bandwagon yet, then you are dumb. (Just pickin', but seriously.) 

Up To No Good...

Madi is getting too smart. Apparently she watched Bruce and I getting chocolates out of the box.  Later that day she decided to help herself to some.  This wasn't the first time she did it, but she figured it out all by watching us do it. 

Madi is also learning new tricks such as waving "hi" and "bye", clapping, giving hugs and kisses, etc. Here are some cute pics and videos!

Giving Daddy hugs

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving we got to go to NC and visit my family.  As always, I love being at home. And I love my family.  To say that we had a fun trip would be an understatement.  While we were there we did many fun things like going to the Biltmore House, playing/watching the turkey bowl, eating, of course, spending time together, visiting my mammaw, and putting together a Christmas package for my brother who is serving a mission in Chile.

Here are some pictures of our trip to Biltmore. The Biltmore House is the largest house in America. The house is 175,000 square feet with 8,000 acres of land. It consists of 250 rooms that include 35 guest and family rooms, and 43 bathrooms. The basement has a swimming pool, gymnasium and changing rooms, bowling alley, servants' quarters, kitchens, and more. It was especially gorgeous all decorated for Christmas. After we toured the house we shopped in the shops and got hot chocolate. It was a blast. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Last time we were at Biltmore we took a picture like this so we had to carry on the tradition. Our gymnastics was a little rusty this time though.

Here are more pictures of our trip. 

Madi woke up from her nap just in time to eat Thanksgiving dinner. This is the only pic we got because we are all so busy eating the yummy food.

She would NOT sit down for her bath. Oh well. 

Madi loves her Grandpa.

She gets her beautiful blue eyes from her Mema.

Visiting Mammaw. Four generation pic. 

On our way back to Utah our flight got cancelled.  The only seats they had left on the next flight were first class.  We were livid.....ok not really. First class was awesome.  If you have ever wondered if the extra money for first class seats is worth it...it is. The extra space made a big difference, we got a yummy meal, and they treated us like we were a big deal.  We were definitely spoiled and it will be hard to go back to coach next time we fly. 

Family Pictures 2010

Well...I finally talked Bruce into getting family pictures made. And I am so glad I did.  I love my little family!!!

Here are a few of my favorites.  It was really cold and Madi was a little tired but they still turned out great! Janica did a great job! If you like what you see, check out her website.

What we've been up to lately...

Crawling.

Playing in my crib when I'm supposed to be sleeping.

Looking cute on Halloween

Playing at the park

Helping mommy cook dinner. (Or should we say, sneaking food while mommy's not looking. hehe.)

And just having fun! :)

Trip to St. George

A few weekends ago we decided to go down to St. George and visit Grammy and Papo.  We had a really fun time and Madi especially loved playing with her cousins.  Here are some pictures of our trip.

Playing with cousin Ben and Maliya

Having fun with Grammy.  

Giving baby kisses to Maliya.

Madi and Lizzie

Fun times with Sara.  Madi really loves Sara. 

She loves Lizzie too but these pictures don't really show it. ;)

Madi was really excited to play and I think Lizzie just wanted to go to sleep.  Lizzie was a good sport though. 

We also went off-roading in the sidekick. 

Did Zumba in the park.

And celebrated Papo's Birthday!

We had a really fun time in St. George and especially hanging out with family!!