Swami, Jamie, Asha & Kali

A name and a blessing.

2012-01-28T17:33:00.008-07:00

Kalyani Marie Alletto.

January 1, 2012.

Kali's blessing was a day full of tears. We prepped Asha before we got to church on what was going to happen with the blessing because we knew she was going to have a hard time (she is a very clingy child and does not like to get left behind). But she still just didn't understand why she couldn't be up front with her dad and sister. So I took her out to the foyer where she cried even more and louder which then led to me crying because I couldn't hear the blessing. Then Swami came out to find us after the blessing and he was upset because we were sad. Luckily he remembered the words of the blessing and once we were all calm we went back into Sacrament. For the closing song we sang "I am a child of God." And lo and behold, more tears came as Asha started peacefully and sweetly singing along. I am constantly in awe of Asha and Kali and the strong spirits that they have in their little bodies. I have no doubt in my mind that they are daughters of our Heavenly Father and that He loves them. I am so blessed and grateful to be their mother.

Here is our little "calming influence" wearing the very same christening/blessing gown her sister, her dad, her uncle, and her grandpa wore.

Dreams do come true.

2012-01-15T16:20:00.007-07:00

Dear Santa,

Thank you for making dreams come true. Asha loves her Snow White Dress. And she couldn't wait to "see what happened" the morning after you came to visit our house. She was really disappointed that she didn't get to feed the carrots to your reindeer, but if you please, she wants to do it herself next Christmas. She has also already requested a Princess Aurora dress and more bubble tape gum. She says she will be good. In the meantime, she is going to be Snow White for Halloween so she can get "nandy" in her "umpkin," and daddy is going to be her Prince. (Asha says Mommy and Kali get to be Snow White too!) Asha has been practicing "I'm Wishing," which goes something like this..."I wishin, I wishin....I love find me today, I hopin, I hopin...ahhh ahhhhh ahhhhh"

Love, Mommy.

December in Pictures

2012-01-14T14:34:00.015-07:00

Matchy-Matchy

2012-01-02T14:51:00.006-07:00

(From a Sunday in October. )

Asha loves getting ready for church so that she can wear a dress and tights

(even though she still wears a dress/skirt every day).

She loves going to church to see her "teacher," Sister Christensen.

"Teacher," as Asha calls her, is the best teacher ever

and Asha would go live with her and her family of 6 kids if she could.

In fact in Sacrament meeting she often begs us to go and sit with her family.

Otherwise, during the hymns you will find her trying to sneak her way to the aisle to twirl in whatever dress she is sporting that day.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?

2011-12-30T20:32:00.003-07:00

Asha reading Brown Bear to us at bedtime...or maybe just repeating from memory : )

A Missouri Thanksgiving

2011-12-30T17:07:00.014-07:00

The girls and I made a last minute trip to Missouri for Thanksgiving and we had a lot of fun. Kali got to meet Granny, Poppie, Uncle Dallas, Great-Grandparents and the rest of the family, and Asha got a suprise visit from Santa Claus a little early. It was so much fun. Someday I hope we can live closer to family or at least have a lot of money so we can visit whenever we want : )

Here is a short recap of our visit.

Poppie and Kali. I don't think she was put down for even a minute.

Granny, Asha and Indie Dog.

Playing at the park.

Best shot I could get of them in the leaves.

Uncle D.

Great-Grandma Butler, Kali, and shy Asha.

Kali with Grandma and Pappy Butler

Uncle D. took Asha and cousins, Blaine and Haylie, to play at Jump Mania. Asha thought it was the best thing ever.

Kali with Blaine and Haylie. Kali obviously didn't think it was as great.

Daddy missed us so much while we were gone that he had to send something for the girls. So he sent Asha this kit to make jewelry and Kali got a little baby toy for her car seat. Here is Uncle D and Asha making their creations.

Christmas Time at Bass Pro.

Complete with a pink gun.

Deer and Moose Carousel.

And Santa Claus.

Asha refused to sit on his lap but she asked for a Snow White Dress and a bunny. Love the fact that she doesn't understand she can ask for a million things yet.

Christmas Parade.

Our pockets were overflowing with candy.

Asha loved once she finally realized that they were throwing candy at us.

Sweet Kali just hanging out.

Playing with the Choo-Choo train under the tree

At the zoo with Uncle D.

Monkey see. Monkey do.

Asha insisted that Kali and I ride the elephant too.

Thanksgiving Day at Grandma and Pappy's house.

Complete with a little football.

Great-Grandma Butler.

Santa came early to see Asha and Kali at Granny and Poppie's house.

Her exact words were "My Punzel Dress!"

Kali got her Quinn Jordan Cabbage Patch doll. I had a Cabbage Patch named Erma McFalda (sp?) when I was a little girl. Asha got one last Christmas named Lizbeth Logan and Kali got hers. Our Cabbage Patch doll family is complete.

In love.

Sleeping with Poppie in true Butler fashion...arm up and belly out!

Cousin Cameron.

Great-Grandma Newcomer.

Great-Grandgrandpa. Papa Ebeling.

We celebrated Uncle D's 23rd b-day a little early.

So grateful that we could spend Thanksgiving with family. It is so fun for Asha to really get to know my grandparents and learn about my childhood. We miss them already and can't wait to see them again soon.

2 1/2 months and Tummy Time

2011-12-30T16:58:00.003-07:00

Here is our sweet little Kali on 11/7/2011.

11 lbs. (75%) and 23 1/4 in. (50%).

No picture is complete without big sister.

Tummy Time.

Even Asha had to practice a little bit...or so she thought.

Halloween 2011.

2011-12-30T15:54:00.007-07:00

Wow. Time has gone by so fast so please forgive me for posting Halloween pictures the day before New Year's Eve! Better late than never I suppose.

We took Asha to pick out her Halloween costume and SURPRISE she picked out a princess costume. We went trick-or-treating twice this year, at our ward party and then at the mall on Halloween, but even though Asha was soooo excited to wear her dress and take her pumpkin to get candy, she was really timid and nervous. I think I ended up saying "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" almost every time for her. In the end though, I think she loved it. She kept telling us she wants to be Cinderella or Snow White next year.

Here we are with our pumpkins.

Here is our Princess Belle and our little Bumble Bee.

Asha insisted on having her little Belle Barbie doll in the pictures with her.

Our happy little bee.

Ready to go with a glow in the dark wand and all.

She loves this bike at the mall and wants to ride every time we go.

Checking out her loot.

All Smiles.

2011-10-22T20:29:00.007-06:00

Kalyani Marie.

8 weeks old.

1st picture caught on camera.

This little girl is all full of smiles now.

Daddy gets most of them when

he gets home from work

but Asha and I occasionally get a few.

Last week she weighed 9lbs.9oz.

and was 21 7/8in. tall.

Asha Marie:

2 years. 8 months old.

Loves to say cheese only so

she can see herself on camera.

Loves broccoli. I think she atealmost 1/2lb by herself tonight.

She says it helps her "grow big high in the sky."

Last week she weighed 34lbs.

and was 40in tall.

Green Bluff.

2011-10-21T17:03:00.013-06:00

Green Bluff has probably been our favorite discovery in Spokane so far. It is a little community north of Spokane with a bunch of small family farms and food stands. You can go and pick your own fruit and see animals (Asha's favorite part...the horses!). The first time we went was with Nana a week after Kali was born. We saw alpacas, ate fresh huckleberry ice cream, and saw horseys, as Asha calls them.

After that trip Asha has asked constantly about going to not only see the horses but ride them. So we made a trip this past weekend to pick pumpkins. Asha was not interested in pumpkins at all though. She kept telling us that the only pumpkin she wanted was the purple one (she has a purple plastic one to go trick-or-treating with and I think that is only because she knows she will get candy in that one!). She just wanted to run in the hay maze and see "horseys." Lucky for her, she has her dad wrapped around her little finger so when we saw they were doing pony rides we took her over. Swami asked her if she wanted to ride on a pony or a big one. She of course picked the biggest horse she could find. I was afraid that she wouldn't actually get on it, especially after we already paid the $5, but she did. She had no fear whatsoever. I am amazed/impressed by her all the time. Then we went for our treat. We had hoped to try the pumpkin donuts because we had heard that they were delicious but the line was a mile long so we got huckleberry ice cream (of course!) and a pumpkin cupcake. I think Swami's mouth still waters anytime he thinks about how good it was. While we were enjoying our treats Asha spotted a princess so we of course had to get a picture with her. Sweet little Kali just hung out in the stroller the whole time.

First Trip:

Second Trip:

Asha is in a shy stage right now hence the face. I swear she really was happy and she even made us follow her around the festival. She keeps telling us now that she wants an orange dress and pumpkin wand!

Sundays and Bath-time

2011-09-28T21:28:00.009-06:00

This is what our Sunday afternoons usually look like. Or should I say evening. One o'clock church is pretty much the worst time ever for church with toddlers. Nap skipped (or if we are lucky, a short one at the most) and 3 hours later, we rush home to get dinner and then you can usually find us doing this. Hanging out and watching a movie.

So to keep a very active little girl occupied and to pacify some of the morning, the girls have bath time. Daddy gave Asha her first bath and so we made it a tradition and he gave Kali her first bath too. This wasn't on Sunday and Asha was in bed, but I wanted to share the pictures anyway. Below you will see that now Asha and Kali take a bath together. The first time this happened, Asha was suppose to just help me give Kali her bath but somehow she ended up in the bath too. I seriously love watching them together. I love seeing how much Asha loves Kali.

9.05.2011

Kali's 1st Bath at home

Sweet little blond haired, blue eyed girl.

All snuggled up and clean and

dressed in the same BYU onesie that her big sister wore

after her first bath.

Our girls.

Kalyani,

You are so lucky to have a sister who loves you so much,

a sister who is always checking to make sure you are okay,

a sister who is constantly waking you up from your sweet little dreams,

a sister who loves when you open your eyes and look at her ("Mom/Dad, her lookin at me!")

a sister who always wants to assist in putting "medicine," as she says, on your bum,

a sister who tells mommy anytime you cry, "mom, sister hungry,"

a sister who makes sure that your fingernails are always painted,

a sister who tells Heavenly Father during prayers, "thank you Kali,"

a sister who is always calling you "cute baby,"

a sister who sings or should I say hum, "I am a Child of God," when you cry.

(it sounds like this "hmm hmm hmm hmm."),

a sister who squeezes in the little whale tub just to take a bath with you.

You are the most loved little sister.

Love,

Mommy

Nice to meet you

2011-09-24T23:12:00.007-06:00

Tonight as we were sitting on Asha's bed for scriptures and prayers,

Asha reached over, grabbed Kali's hand, and shook it up and down and said,

"good to meet you."

Not sure where she learned that

because she usually acts all shy when someone tries to shake her hand.

But we sure do love the things that she picks up on

and repeats...

most of the time!

But it's true,

it was so good to meet you Kali one month ago today!

Happy 1 Month

xoxo

3 Weeks (yesterday!)

2011-09-18T10:23:00.002-06:00

Happy 3 Weeks

Kalyani!

We love you!

Past Due

2011-09-15T16:34:00.008-06:00

Life just gets busier and busier.

We tried to do a lot of fun things with Asha before the baby came and I meant to post the pictures before the baby came too...but that didn't happen.

So here are some pictures from our summer:

I love to see the Temple

Asha loves the Temple.

When we moved to Spokane, she was so excited that the temple is so close and so anytime we drive by a church or anything that looks sort of like a temple, she yells, "Temple!"

And along with her nightly request to read Cinderella,

she asks us to sing "I love to see the Temple."

Seriously just love her.

When we took her to the see the Spokane temple for the 1st time, she requested to wear a dress.

So here she is in, what she calls, her Rapunzel dress.

She tells us that when she "gets big like mom,"

she wants to get married in the temple and wear a princess dress.

A couple of days ago we were in the bakery section at the grocery store and Asha spotted the wedding cakes.

She said, "Asha want one."

And I replied, "Yeah you can have one when you get married."

She happily said, "Okay! When I get big like mom."

Haha.

Swami better start saving his money.

Summer Festivals

We went to a couple festivals around the area and anytime there was face painting, she wanted a princess crown.

The first time we went to one, we kept asking her what she wanted...

a butterfly, a balloon, a heart, etc, etc.

But she kept saying no, not on her cheek and kept pointing to her forehead.

It took a while, but we finally figured out what she wanted but couldn't quite express in words.

Here she is in her princess glory with her necklace that she just made.

Nana and Uncle KJ

The week before Kali was born Nana and Uncle KJ came to visit

We went downtown and did a carriage ride.

Asha loved it.

She loved the horses almost as much as her Uncle...

well maybe it was about even.

We celebrated KJ getting the Priesthood with an ice cream party.

Asha discovered "purple" ice cream

and fell in love.

Congratulations KJ!

We are very proud of you.

They left early Thursday morning for their drive back to Utah

and SURPRISE...

Kali came Saturday morning.

: )

2011-09-12T22:54:00.000-06:00

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Sisters Forever.

2011-09-04T14:20:00.010-06:00

Day 1.

Asha and Kali in the hospital.

(sorry I couldn't figure out how to rotate it!)

Day 2.

1st morning Kali was home.

6am in the Alletto house you will find this...

Asha quietly sneaks into our room

where she proceeds to poke Dad until he wakes up.

-love that she is a Daddy's girl at this time for sure!-

The ipad is requested, something from netflix selected,

"strawberry cereal" (aka Special K) is begged for.

This time it was a granola bar.

Asha pauses the movie/show and turns the volume all the way down

because you don't want it to be too loud even when it is paused.

Prayer said.

Now we add in, "where'd her go?" (meaning Kali)

a thousand kisses once she's found,

and, "I want to hold her. Please mom."

A great way to start the day.

Day 4.

Pink is a necessity.

The ballerina play dress was a gift for Asha for being such a good big sister.

Day 6.

Strolling downtown.

Day 7.

All snuggled up for a Princess movie.

One week down.

Forever to come.

Best Friends already.

Family of Four

2011-08-31T21:01:00.011-06:00

She's HERE!

Kalyani Marie Alletto

(Kalyani means "blessed/fortunate.")

7:55 am

8.27.2011

6 lbs. 6 oz. 19 1/2 in.

Kali made a surprise appearance 2 1/2 weeks early early Saturday morning.

I woke up around 5 for what I thought was going to be a routine middle-of-the-night bathroom break when my water broke.

This came as a complete surprise since Asha took her sweet little time deciding to make her first appearance and even then she had been encouraged a little.

So I expected Kali would do the same.

At my 37 week appointment on Wednesday I was only at a 4

but I had been feeling that she would come a little early.

I just never expected so early and so fast.

Saturday was the day we planned to get the car seat ready and pack the bags, etc, etc.

Contractions started at 6:30 at about 10 min apart.

We quickly found back-up babysitters for Asha after 3 of our planned families were out of town.

Dropped her off by 7.

Contractions were about 5 min apart at this point.

At the hospital by 7:05.

Skipped check-in and went straight to labor and delivery.

At this point I was still hoping to have an epidural.

But...

Dilated to 9cm at about 7:20ish.

Too late for an epidural and they barely got the IV started before I was beginning to push.

In fact, the doctor barely got there.

By 7:55 our sweet little girl was in my arms.

It was a pretty amazing and wonderful experience.

Still in shock and often have to remind myself that she is already here.

We are in love.

Leaving for the hospital.

Proud Daddy.

He was so calm and encouraging the entire time.

Love love love him.

And Love him even more for not complaining once when I dug my fingernails into his hand.

BIG SISTER!

When Swami woke her up that day, he told her that sister was going to come and that we needed to get dressed. She was so excited. She said, "Oh no sister comin. Let's go!"

Sister's 1st bath.

Asha is such a good big sister.

Swami calls her the baby hog.

I think he got to hold Kali maybe 2 times in the hospital.

Nana.

Going Home.

She is 100% ours.

They are 100% ours.

We couldn't be more in love.

Life. Move. New home.

2011-07-20T14:53:00.008-06:00

Moves are exhausting

especially when pregnant and with a most active 2 year old.

Life has flown by since we left Massachusetts in May.

Trying to get settled in a new home

on the other side of the country

while finding doctors

entertaining Asha

unpacking

adjusting to not having Daddy around very much

and

getting ready for baby girl #2.

These are just a few of my many excuses for not blogging since May.

Here are a few more...

Our move across country.

This is the only picture I took on our mad dash.

Thanks for the Ipad,

we all made it safe a and sound

Except for a poor opossum and broken bumper.

Memorial Day Weekend.

Checking out our new home.

Downtown Spokane.

Carousel open all day every day.

Definitely one of Asha's favorite things about Spokane.

Playing in the splash pad.

LOVE her.

Eating Ice Cream.

Asha thinks that she should always have a "treat" when we got out.

And most of the time she gets one.

Lucky for her Daddy feels bad for being gone 8 hours a day.

She usually requests ice cream.

Sometimes it's candy.

It is definitely never any kind of food though.

Checking out the Spokane Falls.

Our Princess.

Ready to go to church.

It literally takes longer for her to get ready in the morning than for me now.

She insists on wearing a dress every day.

Still.

That she has to pick out.

And now we have added 2 ponytails to the mix.

Plus the shoe choice.

"I'm so glad when Daddy comes home."

She literally climbs on the couch and looks out the window and waits...and waits.

Once he walks in the door, I am pretty much pushed aside.

I often ask her if she can share Daddy so that I can talk to him.

The response is always "no."

Baby making.

29 Weeks pregnant.

I'm 32 now but seem to always forget to take a picture.

This is pretty much my primary excuse for the lack of blogging.

Swimming.

The weather is up and down here.

But you can find us at the pool or park everyday.

Or shopping.

3 of Asha's favorite things.

Planting our little humble garden.

Flying Kites.

Asha's first time.

She thought it was "cool."

The fact that it was a Princess kite probably helped.

Spokane has been great.

Definitely a bit different than New England.

But we like it.

And we are so grateful to have a job.

Go Zags!

I'm her Momma.

2011-05-16T18:34:00.004-06:00

I love her.

I love being her mom.

I love that she always wants to share even when you tell her "no thank you."

I love that she thinks she is the boss.

I love that she voluntarily tells me if I can wear a ponytail for the day.

I love that she refuses to wear pants and insists on wearing a "dressy skirt" every day.

I love that she messes up our bed about a 100+ times a day to hide.

I love that she wears her princess high heels all day every day.

I love that she always gives us big kisses while we are saying family prayers.

And I even love that she cried after church when we made her take off the pretty Indian dress from Grandma Arunachalam so that she didn't get it dirty.

I am so grateful to be her "momma."

I love that Swami thinks he is our mediator.

I love being part of their family.

And I love that she will be a part of our family in just a couple of months.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Easter and Family of Four.

2011-04-24T20:00:00.006-06:00

Easter was a ton of fun this year with Asha. Our family home evening lesson this week was on Easter and the Resurrection and Asha just kept saying "Jesus, wake up!" Mind you that when she wakes up in the morning and after naps she stands in her crib and yells, "mom/dad wake up!" until we go get her, but it is very sweet to see how much a little girl can/wants to understand. We celebrated Easter with lots of gifts from grandparents, an Easter egg hunt at the Bishop's house, an Easter egg hunt at home, and lots of candy. Here are some pictures from our celebrations.

Easter Bunny from Granny and Poppy and Elmo card from Nana. She insists on sleeping with the bunny even though he pretty much takes up her entire bed.

Getting ready for the hunt at Bishop's house.

There were eggs everywhere but she would never pick eggs that were next to each other which resulted in a lot of running.

Cheese.

Showing off her treasures.

Easter Egg Hunt at home.

Princess Rapunzel from her basket.

"So I brush and brush and brush and brush my hair and wonder basically when will my life begin..." (We've only seen the movie about a 100 times since it came out on DVD).

New finger paints from Nana.

Family of Four:

We are pregnant with girl #2 due September 13th, so I am about 20 weeks along now. Before we found out what we are having we would ask Asha if she is going to have a baby brother or a baby sister and she would always say "baby sister." She is pretty excited. She asks to play with "baby sister" and says that she wants to share her "princess moomoos" (aka "movies") with her. When we say family prayers before she goes to bed and we ask that baby sister be blessed she always says, "baby in momma's belly." She is a sweet, loving, sharing girl with a tad too much independence.

We are excited for our little family to grow and for Asha to have a "baby sister!"

Three posts and a lot of pictures.

2011-03-22T21:54:00.003-06:00

I have been a blogger slacker lately. So here is what we have been up to the past couple of months.

Spring Break

2011-03-22T21:33:00.006-06:00

We spent Spring Break this year in Mystic, CT which is just a couple of hours away from our house.

Riding in the car in style.

We went to the Mystic Aquarium...which is pretty awesome. Asha LOVED the sea lions.

Asha and Daddy in a shipwreck.

Playing with the seashells, starfish, and lobsters.

Checking out the sea lions again.

Touching the sharks.

And yes, I know her headband looks ridiculous like this but she insists on wearing it like that a lot...and did I mention that she also insists on wearing a headband pretty much everyday. This is what I get for always make her wear something in her hair.

Beluga.

Swimming at the pool.

Asha loves swimming and thinks that she can do it by herself after going to the Y so much. However, she quickly realized that without the help of "bubbles" which we use at the Y, she needs a little help.

Back at the aquarium for day 2.

Beluga again.

Asha's all time favorite of the aquarium was "Meno." Oops, I meant Nemo. But she hasn't quite figured out how to switch the m and n back around.

We ended the trip with a stop at Mystic Pizza, which is famous from the Julia Robert's movie and a little ice cream.

Perfect and all too short of a spring break.

February and 2 yEaRs!

2011-03-22T20:50:00.007-06:00

Wake up Dad. It's my birthday.

Surprise! Balloons and presents first thing in the morning.

Birthday Cake from Nana.

Coloring Princess with her new markers.

We celebrated by going to Red Robin.

And got more balloons.

Her Birthday Party.

We threw her a little party at the church with some of her favorite friends.

Her Barbie Hybrid Cadillac from Uncle Dallas and her love Syd. The car was definitely the main attraction.

We printed out coloring pages of Asha from 0-2 to color.

She needed a little help to figure out the gas. The car is actually designed for 3-9 year olds but she loved it and eventually could do it by herself at the end of the day.

Cheese!

One of Asha's favorite people, Bella.

I got to drive too! Well only for a little while.

"Maurice put your hands up, it's much more fun this way."

The Birthday Princess.

Asha is obsessed with princesses. Seriously, she wakes up in the morning and wants to watch Snow White or "Beast," as she says for Beauty and the Beast. It's probably my fault because one day I decided to let her watch Enchanted while I was showering. Now princesses are our life.

Later in the month PopPop drove his big truck to see us. Forgive Asha's outfit/hair as she desperately wanted to wear one of her favorite sweaters to see PopPop and she fell asleep in the car before we got there so she was a little ruffled.

January 2011

2011-03-22T20:36:00.003-06:00

Here are a couple of pictures from January in Massachusetts.

The really big storm:

So we did a lot of this:

Asha loves anything and everything artsy.

Christmas in DC

2011-01-24T17:55:00.004-07:00

Yes, yes, and yes I realize that it is almost the end of January but hey sometimes life is just a little crazy.

We met Gigi and Uncle KJ at Aunt Meenal's house in DC for Christmas. We went to the national zoo and saw the Christmas lights, went to see the lights at the DC Temple, made a ginger bread house, played a lot of Wii and watched a lot of movies. While we were there Asha got to see her favorite little Indian friend, Deva. She seriously just loves him so much. We were very spoiled...well Asha was very spoiled. She was surprised with a kitchen from Gigi, and she got her very own purse, boots, princess slippers, toys and lots of cute clothes (all of which she wanted to put on immediately...she would point to the clothes and then to herself to let us know that she wanted to wear it...right then...she is definitely a girl.) Thanks Gigi for everything. And thanks to Aunt Meenal for letting us invade her home for the week!

It has been a true New England winter this new year with inches and inches of snow and not to mention the below zero temperatures.

So we have been keeping warm and going to the Y a lot. Asha just started swimming on her own the past couple of weeks with the help of little bubbles. Which is awesome because before she would just jump in the pool and then insist on being put back up on the edge so she could jump again. Now she swims up and down the pool pretty much all on her own.

Some of her favorite things right now are singing and dancing (her favorite song is Bruno Mars' "Just the way are" and she can sing the words amazing, are, face, eyes, and the rest she just tries to mimic the sounds), she loves shoes and always has a pair on, she asks to go to the "Y" everyday, and repeatedly points out to us the millions of inches of snow on the ground anytime we are outside, she is just starting to really ride her bike, and she is still so passionate about coloring/painting/playdough/any art activity.

Today she insisted on picking out her own clothes. Needless to say, Swami and I are already dreading the teenage years.

Happy Holidays 2010.

2010-12-27T11:33:00.003-07:00

Thanksgiving celebrations.

2010-12-03T19:07:00.005-07:00

We spent Thanksgiving in Rochester with Nana Alletto and Grandpa. We had a lot of fun and ate way too much yummy food (thanks Nana!). Pretty much Asha just got to do a lot of fun things. She got awesome sidewalk chalk from Gramps, went to the Barnes & Noble story time, rode the carousel, went to Chuck E. Cheese's and rode another carousel (in the same day!) and race horse as many times as possible, ate lots of cannoli, and Nana and Gramps took her to see trains and to the zoo. So that gave Swami and I some free time to go shopping on Black Friday. We found some great deals, but it was mostly fun to spend some time alone together. 6 months and counting til we are done with grad school! Here are some pictures from our trip:

Thanks Nana and Gramps for a great Thanksgiving! We love you both and can't wait to see you again soon. xo.

Salem and Boston

2010-11-21T18:37:00.004-07:00

Last weekend we went to Salem to do some touristy stuff and also because some of my ancestors lived there in the late 1600s-early 1700s. We found their headstones in the Burying Point Cemetery in Salem. I must say that being the family history nerd that I am, this was soooo cool. Here is a little history about the cemetery:

Old Burying Point" or the "Charter Street Cemetery" is the oldest cemetery in Salem and the second oldest cemetery in the country. It was started in 1637. It contains many early Salem residents and famous individuals such as Jonathan Corwin and John Hawthorne, who were Judges in the Salem Witch Trials, Samuel Bradstreet who was a Governor of Massachusetts and many more interesting historical figures.

I won't bore you with too many pictures of the headstones but here's Asha and I sitting in front of the Hodges family.

We also were able to find the old church where one of the infants of the family is supposedly buried...Saint Peter's which was founded in 1733.

Pretty cool how much history is in/around Salem.

After our day in Salem, we took Asha to the Target Dollar Night at the Children's Museum in Boston. It was pretty amazing.

Here we are under a turtle/fish bowl. It was so cool because you could get underneath the tank and look up.

Asha washing her baby.

And of course, her passion right now, coloring.

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T20:17:00.005-06:00

Halloween was fun this year...Asha didn't love to put on her costume, but once we got it on her and she realized that she was getting a lot of candy, she ended up having a ton of fun. We went to the the mall and then right to our ward party... so after about 10 lollipops and a handful of other candy, she was exhausted by the time we got home.

Our Pumpkins. We used finger paints so Asha would have fun, but she decided that she didn't want to get dirty.

Elmo Pumpkin!

Missouri in October.

2010-10-26T20:42:00.008-06:00

Asha and I made a quick trip home a couple of weeks ago for my step-grandpa's funeral. It's a sad time for my family and it was really good to be with them. Buck was an incredible person and we miss him already. He fought a long and hard battle against cancer and are happy that he is finally at peace and out of pain.

Sadly these are the most recent photos we have of Bucky and Asha.

We love you Buck and can't wait to see you again soon. xo.

While there we had a little fun with the fam.

Asha's first parade. If ever in Missouri in October, you must go to Apple Butter Makin' Days.

Asha's 200 lb new best friend.

Learned to crawl through the doggy door (thanks Uncle Jason).

Went to the pumpkin patch and went on a hayride.

Rode Uncle Dallas's bike like a natural.

Went to a fun farm.

Pretended to be a cowgirl.

Fed cows.

Found a watering hole.

Found a new car.

Rode the ducks in fancy Branson.

Drove the Duck and honked the horn.

Got spoiled by Uncle Dallas and went to Silver Dollar City (also a must-see in Missouri).

We love you all in Missouri and wish we were closer to you especially at times like this. Can't wait to see you all soon.

From the diaries of the dramatic life of a 19 month old.

2010-10-03T19:41:00.002-06:00

Asha couldn't make it over the humps with her socks on and in some places it was really tight quarters for Swami. I seriously thought I was going to have to call 911 to get them out of there.

FaMilY fUN

2010-10-03T19:08:00.005-06:00

We took Asha to the children's museum on Friday and had a lot of fun. She is saying more and more words every day. She will be 20 months tomorrow. It's crazy how fast time flies. Her loves right now are babies (whether they be dolls or live ones), naming body parts (which often results in her poking a live baby's eyes), the "if you're happy and you know it" song, any kind of animal and making their respective noise, any kind of jewelry, painting her finger nails and toe nails, coloring, and shoes, shoes, and shoes (not only does she always want to wear shoes, even in the house, but she also insists that Swami and I also always have shoes on so she is constantly bringing us whatever pair she thinks we should wear at the moment). She loves elephants and she got a little surprise in the mail this week-an elephant necklace that came in a cute little elephant shaped box from her great-grandma Necomer and Granny. She is still such a happy easy going baby...well we are coming to realize that she is not our baby anymore but a big girl as she hardly ever lets hold her anymore and wants to do everything on her own.

Our little love.

Driving the ambulance.

Her new necklace.

Back together again.

2010-08-29T18:29:00.007-06:00

The summer is coming to an end and we are all finally back together in Mass. This past week we traveled to Rochester to visit Swami's grandma. We were able to visit the church sites in Palmyra and Niagara Falls. We had a lot of fun and it was great to see Nana Alletto (thanks Nana for having us!). Oh and we just got Asha her first bike. It's a little balance bike and she loves it even though she isn't quite able to hold herself up on it yet. Here are some pictures from our trip...

Asha's first ride on a carousel.

We went to the fire safety day at the lake. She loved to ring the bells on the fire trucks.

Niagara Falls:

Maid of the Mist.

Nana Alletto was born in Niagara and showed us around. We had a lot of fun...especially when Asha decided to chase the birds during our picnic.

Palmyra:

In the sacred grove.

Such a beautiful and amazing place.

Hill Cumorah.

Outside Joseph Smith's home.

After visiting these sites where the Prophet Joseph Smith lived as a young boy and where he knelt in prayer in the sacred grove, my testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ was strengthened even more. What an amazing experience.

Summer Happenings

2010-07-10T07:52:00.012-06:00

Our summer has been pretty crazy. Swami got an internship last minute with the Celtics! So Asha and I decided to spend the summer with family. We spent a month in Missouri and now are in Georgia. Luckily we have been able to see Swami for a couple of weekends but we definitely miss him!

Memorial Day. Our last day in Mass. before our adventures began.

Swami's adventures in Boston:

His new shoes he got for free for taking Cedric Maxwell to Reebok headquarters.

His cufflinks he got that his office was giving to all of the Celtics partners.

Perks of getting to go to all of the playoff games in Boston.

Needless to say, he is enjoying it!

MISSOURI: Asha and I spent our time in Missouri swimming, playing at the park, eating ice cream cones and just enjoying being with family including being there for Jentsy and Tyler's wedding. We had a lot of fun. Thanks Granny, Poppie, and Uncle D. for putting up with us for so long!

At the Park with Granny.

Asha's first very own ice cream cone. Needless to say, she loved it.

Driving Uncle D's boat.

Jentsy and Tyler's Rehearsal Dinner. The Bride with her bridesmaids.

The Wedding:

We rode a short bus to the reception.

Great Grandma Butler and Asha.

The bride and groom.

Asha loves Uncle D.

Jumping on the trampoline.

Swimming in the pool.

Asha stating the fact that she is number 1.

Celebrating Granny's bday.

Learning to call a dog by patting your leg and making a kissing sound.

Going to the zoo...thanks to Uncle D.

Giggling while feeding the cow with the huge tongue.

Playing in the water.

Creating her very own piece of art for Granny and Poppie's house.

Riding the rocking horse that I grew up with.

Being spoiled by Granny with her very own kitchen set.

Playing in the water fountains in downtown Springfield.

Winning first place in a photo contest.

COLORADO: We made a short trip to Breckenridge, CO for an Alletto family reunion. It was a short weekend but we packed in every activity possible and had a great time. Not to mention the 50 cannoli that we devoured.

GEORGIA: And here we are now...

Swami got to visit us for the 4th of July weekend. We celebrated my birthday a little early with Twilight and ice cream cake.

Now Asha and I are just hanging out in Georgia until he is done with his internship and waiting for school to start again. One year down and one year to go...we can't wait!

In the meantime, Asha loves going swimming in GiGi and Grandpa's pool everyday

When you're 15 months old...

2010-05-08T16:01:00.005-06:00

You love your dad more than anything else and get so excited when you hear him with his keys outside the door.

You love to wear beaded necklaces, sunglasses and carry a purse around with your 2 cell phones to make very important calls.

You love to be outside...especially at the beach.

and love to test your boundaries.

You love animals...

especially cows that say "moooo."

You love any kind of sweets...

particularly lobster tails from fresh Italian bakeries.

Indian Princess

2010-04-26T13:46:00.004-06:00

Here is our little Indian princess. Swami's grandma got Asha this cute dress from her last trip to India. We sure do love her. One of her favorite things to do right now is stomp her feet really fast like she is tap dancing. She also loves to wear any beaded necklaces she can get her hands on.

She also has a new found love of climbing. We got Asha this little table (thanks to Gigi and Gramps) and found her one day on top of it reading her books.

Our first attempt at finger-painting. I eventually had to give her a binki so that she wouldn't eat the paint as you can see by the paint she smeared all over her face.

It's hard to believe that she will be 15 months in just a week.

Easter Celebrations

2010-04-06T13:14:00.006-06:00

Asha is in love with Easter eggs. We went to an Easter egg hunt at our Bishop's house on Saturday. Asha did pretty good, but by the time we finally got her to realize that there were eggs on the ground, she didn't have much a chance since she was the youngest one hunting. But she was content as long as she had enough to fill her two little hands...so let's just say that instead of coming home with the 12 that we brought we made it home with about 4! It has been extremely nice here the past week so we have spent a lot of time outside. Asha just loves to be outside and giggles when she knows we are going to play. She has also just learned to really kick her legs in the tub...which makes a huge mess but she thinks it's the best thing in the world. We hope that everyone had a Happy Easter too!

Exploring her first Easter basket. Asha loves to growl like a bear and her next favorite thing is to hold her arm up and pretend she is an elephant with a trunk. However, the two motions are often combined into one creating a growling elephant.

Happy Easter

2010-03-27T19:12:00.003-06:00

Happy Easter. Asha will be 14 months in a couple of days and is becoming more and more of a little girl instead of our little baby. Some of her favorite things right now: the song "head, shoulders, knees and toes," play talking on the cell phone, playing hide-and-go-seek, and playing in the dark with flashlights. Just thought we would share a couple of pics from today.

One year older.

2010-03-24T11:50:00.005-06:00

We celebrated Swami's 26th birthday yesterday with a little cheesecake!

Happy birthday to a wonderful husband and an amazing dad. We love you.

(oh, and excuse the "1" for the candle..it was all we had!)

Spring Break

2010-03-19T20:05:00.008-06:00

Swami had spring break this week and so we were able to get away for a few days to Atlantic City and Phillie. We had a lot of fun. Asha's favorite part was the beach...even though it wasn't even that pretty or nice! She is such a little explorer. Here are some pictures from the trip and I had to share the one of her on the frog potty...she is just getting too big.

Happy Birthday...again.

2010-02-16T18:33:00.004-07:00

The Allettos came to visit this past weekend to celebrate Asha'a birthday. We had lots of fun and ate lots of food. This was Asha's 3rd party to celebrate so this time we had ice cream pie and she loved it. Here are some pics:

Boston sight-seeing.

Needless to say, Asha was very spoiled and loved every minute of it.

The Giggles

2010-02-08T14:55:00.003-07:00

Just thought we would share a video of Asha from about a week ago. She got the blocks for Christmas but for some reason they were just cracking her up that day.

She also pooped in the tub the other day and let me tell you, that was the most disgusting thing I have ever done...it just like floats around in the water. Let me just say gross. Oh the joys of motherhood.

One year older.

2010-02-06T19:08:00.005-07:00

We celebrated Asha's 1st birthday on Thursday. She is such a sweetheart. At her one year appointment she weighed 22.4 and was 31 in. She loves anything that makes noise/music, patting her belly, the itsy-bitsy spider, blowing kisses, high-fives, waving bye-bye, throwing/kicking her ball, turning on/off the DVD player and TV, and her seahorse Sebastian are among some of her favorite things right now. It is crazy how fast time flies by...especially when we have such a sweet little girl in our home.

Happy Birthday Asha. We love you ttthiiissss much!

The New Year

2010-01-14T20:18:00.004-07:00

For the holidays, we spent time in Savannah and Springfield and had a great time. It is always so much fun to visit family, especially because we hardly ever get to see them. Asha has started taking a couple of steps on her own and we are just waiting for her to take off running. It is hard to believe that she will be a year old in just a couple of weeks. Life is good here in Mass. and we look forward to the upcoming year! Here are some pictures from our adventures these past couple of weeks:

Boo to You.

2009-11-01T19:48:00.006-07:00

Here's a recap of what we have been up to the past couple of weeks:

Our little monster.

We went to our town's fall festival and Asha loved the cows.

We finally got Asha's ears pierced. and I love them. ( this is Jamie by the way!)

We traveled down to Aunt Meenah's in D.C. since Grandma flew in from Salt Lake, had lots of yummy Indian food, watched a fabulous Bollywood movie, Bride and Prejudice (which I highly recommend if you are in for some fun) and went to the Air and Space Museum. Asha came home with the cute outfit that she is wearing courtesy of Grandma.

Asha's first little Indian friend, Deva.

C is for Cookie.

We painted our pumpkins for Family Home Evening.

Asha just did a little finger painting.

Happy Halloween! During the day we went to the Yankee Candle Village with Asha in her little skeleton outfit. It was a lot of fun.

First time Trick-or-Treating at our ward's Halloween Party.

Happy Halloween!

A Gap babe?

2009-10-21T18:52:00.003-06:00

We entered Asha in the Gap casting call. Please go to http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/entries/jamiealletto/167905592/ to vote...everyday until it's over : )

Thank you!

A New England Fall

2009-10-12T18:34:00.009-06:00

Here are some pictures of what we have been up to recently. We went to a petting zoo/pumpkin patch and feed the animals and picked out our pumpkins.

Asha is a daddy's girl.

This is their new trick.

In the car on our first trip to Boston.

Our present day Benjamin Franklin.

Little Italy. Asha's new love...cannoli.

like father like daughter. She thought she was going to get a bite.

Bunker Hill:

Old North Church

We loved Boston and can't wait to go again.

Asha is now 8 months old and is developing more and more of a little personality. She is a joy.

The tooth

2009-10-01T12:41:00.006-06:00

Just wanted to share a couple of pictures of Asha's cute little tooth. She is growing and changing

so much.

She is trying to figure out the whole crawling bit. You can see her little tooth here. It is really starting to stick out and be noticeable.

She is so sweet.

3000 miles later

2009-09-16T18:59:00.015-06:00

Over 3000 miles later, we finally made it safe and sound to Massachusetts and have been settling into our new apartment the past couple of weeks. Swami has started school and so far has loved it. Asha and I have been trying to take care of getting the apartment all organized and unpacked while also dealing with Asha getting her first tooth on the bottom, learning to pull herself up, self-feeding and just becoming more and more mobile. She is such a joy and we love her more and more each day. Here are some pictures from our last days in Utah, our trip across country and a little bit of our new home.

UTAH:

In celebration of Asha's 6 month birthday we took her to the pool for the first time. She wasn't too sure at first but loved to watch all of the other kids around.

Have no fear Alletto family, there was no shortage of Dairy Queen Ice Cream to top off the celebration.

We were able to go to the Thanksgiving Point Gardens the day before we left with Grandma and Chris and Kimber. It was a lot of fun and very pretty but also bittersweet at the same time to know that we won't be seeing them for a very long time.

lol, gotta love Grandma as a photographer and also Asha's face.

Sadly we left behind some of our favorite people in Utah and it was a little sad to leave. Strangely enough, that was home for us since we had spent our entire 3 years of married life there together. We had a lot of good times there and miss it already but now we are excited for our little family to start a new chapter in Massachusetts. Asha can't wait for Aunt Bers and Uncle Chris to come visit soon though...hint hint!!

This video is witness to Asha's happiness. Don't mind Chris's nice legs (as Kimber would put it) and Kimber telling him not to get any more meat...we were just finishing up dinner at the time. It adds a nice touch, lol. We love you Chris and Kimber and miss you so much already. We had so much fun with you two.

MISSOURI: It is always good to be home and always sad to leave. But I will take all the time that I can.

Asha's first oreo, thanks to Uncle Jason.

Before:

After:

Ash loved spinning around in the chair with Granny.

He really does love her.

Madisyn wanted to feed Asha...

and this was the result.

She is such a great baby and had so much fun playing with her cousins, but as you can see, she was exhausted.

Playing at the park. She loves to be outside.

After Missouri we headed to Winston-Salem, NC to stay with Aunt Mary Helen where we met Phil and Muthu. I just realized as I was posting this that I didn't get to take any pictures while we were there, but we had a lot of fun. Asha was especially spoiled by Gigi and Grandpa with clothes and toys and lets just say that there was no shortage of cheesecake or cannoli! We are excited to be on the east now to be a little closer to them.

WASHINGTON D.C.: We spent a day in DC which is hardly enough time to do much but we had a great time. We walked around the monuments, went to the DC zoo, and the Museum of Natural History. We thought that Asha would love the zoo, and she did when the animals were actually close enough. But she really liked the interactive exhibits in the Smithsonian.Asha's first ride on the metro.

Zoo:

She loved the monkeys.

You can see how much Asha loved the zoo as she is passed out on our way to the Smithsonian.

MASSACHUSETTS:

Swiming in our new pool. She loves to swim now that she has figured out how to kick in the water.

Life in Massachusetts is very different from life in Utah...lets just say that it is very liberal and leave it at that. However, it is very pretty here especially as the leaves are starting to change. It reminds me a lot of home in regards to the landscape which is always a good thing. We are excited to visit Boston and some of the other New England hot spots. We are not looking forward to the freezing winter though as it is already pretty chilly and it is only September. All in all, life is good and we are very blessed. Thanks to everyone who helped us with the move whether it was with loading our moving truck (Chris and Kimber and other members of the ward) to the generosity of letting us stay with you in your homes and feeding us (Grandma, Uncle Mike and Aunt Ann, Mom and Dad, Aunt Mary Helen, and Aunt Meenal). We wouldn't have made it those 3000 miles without such a wonderful family. We love you all and look forward to you visiting us in our new home.

Family Portraits

2009-08-02T09:37:00.015-06:00

Yesterday we had some family portraits taken in honor of Asha's 6 month birthday. Naturally, she is the center of attention. Thanks Vanessa!

There's no place like home

2009-06-25T19:40:00.005-06:00

Last week Asha and I traveled home to see the Missouri side of the fam. Asha finally got to meet her Uncle Dallas, great-grandparents and great-uncles! We had a great time and were sad to leave. Thankfully, Asha was a trooper traveling and slept the entire time on the plane rides.

Asha and Granny

Poppie

Great-Grandma and Great-Buck

Great Uncle-Doug

Granny bought Asha an activity center while we were there and she absolutely loved it! Thanks Granny and Poppie!

Great Uncle-Jason

Cousins Blaine and Hailey

Great-Papa and Granny

Uncle Dallas

Great-Pappy

Great-Grandma

Napping with Granny

Love you all and can't wait to see you again!

Oh and I just wanted to post a picture of my two basketball lovers.

Ps. Notice Swami's black eye. Completes the outfit.

2 posts in one

2009-06-09T18:22:00.007-06:00

Life has been busy the past couple of weeks as I have struggled to wrap-up my senior paper and as we have had the opportunity to take two roadtrips. For Memorial Day weekend we went to St. George with Anjuli and stayed with her family, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Usha, Jonathan, and Mary. We had a great time just hanging out, going to the farmer's market, to see a Angels and Demons, and hiking a little in Snow Canyon. Asha was a little unsure about not being at home but she did great, like always, in the car and with everyone wanting to hold her all the time. She is such an easy-going baby. Here are some pics from the weekend:

Thanks Jeff and Usha for a great time!

Then this last weekend we traveled to Denver for Jean and Chris's wedding and to hang out with the Allettos. Asha got to meet her great-grandma Alletto, great-aunt Cat, great-uncle Mike and great-aunt Ann. She also got in some high-quality spoiling time with Gigi and Grampa. It was a lot of fun to be with everyone! Here are some pictures from that trip:

My new trick: sucking on my toes!

The beautiful bride and groom.

Great-Nana Alletto

looking a little grumpy.

Playing Piano with my feet with Aunt Cat.

Playing at the ball field.

We had a great time these past couple of weekends. Asha is now 4 months old! And is becoming more and more active and alert and it is so much fun. She had her first photo shoot last week so we will have to post some of those later. As of now, we are preparing for her first plane ride this Friday. We are headed home to Missouri to meet the Butler clan.

3 Months and rolling over!

2009-05-07T20:52:00.006-06:00

On Monday, we celebrated Asha's 3 month old birthday by going to Scott, Swami's best friend from high school, and Leanne's daughter's one year birthday party. It was great to see them and Addie.

Birthday pics!

'

The birthday girls with their daddys.

Asha is getting so big. Today, she rolled over. Not just once, but three times! It is amazing how fast she is growing and developing. She has such a big personality in such a little body. We love her so much.

Pictures of her after she rolled over.

UMass

2009-04-05T19:21:00.002-06:00

So for that last few months I've been looking at getting a masters' degree. I really wanted to do an MBA, but I also decided that it would be fun to get into the sports world. Long story short I found a couple of programs that would allow me to get both an MBA and a masters' degree in sports mangement in just two years. We've decided to head to the University of Massachussets Amherst. I'll start classes there this Fall and finish up in about May of 2011. Amherst is the flagship campus for the University of Massachussets. It's about 90 minutes west of Boston, and about 3 hours north of NYC. The location is great and I'm hoping to intern with the Celtics at some point. We'll let you all know what happens!

Baby Asha

2009-03-12T19:58:00.003-06:00

This past month has been quite busy with lots of visitors, trying to stay on top of homework instead of playing with Asha, Swami going for business school interviews, and lots of late nights. Our parents were all able to come stay with us and help take care of Asha while I went to school (which was greatly appreciated!), but now we are left trying to figure out a normal schedule.

Asha is absolutely perfect. At her two week appointment she weighed 8lbs.7oz. and she had grown 2in. in length. It is amazing how much you can love such a little person.

Thanks to everyone for their love, help, and support as we adjust to such a huge change in our lives!

A few more pics

2009-02-05T10:56:00.002-07:00

Mom and baby are doing great! We hope to make it home sometime this evening. Here are a few more pictures of Asha. We're pretty sure she's getting cuter by the minute.

Baby Photos

2009-02-04T13:44:00.003-07:00

Here she is: Asha Marie Alletto

She's Here!

2009-02-04T03:47:00.002-07:00

It's official! Our daughter arrived at 3:07 a.m. and weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces and was 20 inches long. Mother and baby are both doing well. It's like four in the morning right now so I'm keeping this short but we'll get some pictures and things on here shortly. Thanks for all your love and support!

Here we go...

2009-02-03T17:20:00.003-07:00

So we are officially at the hospital! Jamie is watching the news and enjoying her epideral as we speak (read?). As you can see the wi-fi here at the hospital is pretty good so I'll do my best to keep everybody updated. Everything has gone smoothly so far...here's hoping it stays that way!

Happy Holidays

2009-01-02T21:56:00.002-07:00

Swami and I were able to travel to Missouri for Christmas which was wonderful...well the part of getting to see the family. However, the road conditions were horrible and what is normally an 18 hour drive ended up being about a 21-24 hour drive. It was worth it to be able to get to see all of my family; it had been about a year a half since I was last there. Anyways, I just wanted to say thanks to my parents for taking good care of us while we were there. Since we have been home this past week I can't get Swami away from the NBA 2K9 that he got for Christmas, and I have had tons of fun putting away all of the baby stuff we got from the shower that my mom was so kind to do for me. I love you Mom and Dad and can't wait to see you soon!

Good Times with the Allettos!

2008-12-05T21:43:00.013-07:00

We had a great time with the family over Thanksgiving Break! We spent a couple of days in Savannah, getting spoiled with an early Christmas! Then we headed to Winston-Salem, NC for Thanksgiving at Aunt Mary Helen and Rich's house. It was an eventful week as we had a birthday party for Nanna, went on a Christmas hayride, played basketball and football, and not to mention all of the eating! And the Alletto women surprised me with a baby shower. To say the least, I came home feeling very spoiled and not wanting to go back to school. Here are some pictures from our trip...

Predictions

2008-11-17T18:16:00.002-07:00

The new Twilight move will SUCK!
BYU kicks the snot out of Utah and then stupid Boise State gets into a BCS Bowl
My team will win the Turkey Bowl this year no matter where I play or who I play with
Florida beats Alabama in the SEC Championship game and plays for the national title
Alabama beats Boise State 77-3; some of Boise State's players actually cry during the game (see prediction number 2)
Florida beats whoever survives the BIG 12 (Texas Tech, Texas, or Oklahoma) by 2 touchdowns, confirming once again that the SEC is the best conference in the nation
Further investigations of Mark Cuban by the SEC will discover that he has been using the Mavericks to launder money; he steps down as owner, the Mavs finally trade Dirk "I don't like confrontation" Nowitzki and ask Jason Kidd to retire and in 2013 win a championship.
The Atlanta Falcons will make the playoffs
The G-men will play in the superbowl again
North Carolina will win another Men's Basketball title because every other decent team from last year graduated all their players

Sports

2008-11-09T17:47:00.002-07:00

So I've settled on trying to do my graduate work in Sports Administration/Management. I'll be getting an MBA and possibly an M.S. as well. Right now the likely candidates are Ohio, Umass, and maybe Columbia. We'll see what happens. I'm in the process of applying right now, but it will be awhile before I hear anything back. I figure if I have to do the same thing every day for the rest of my life, it might as well be fun, right?

I volunteered to help out with the local Jr. Jazz program thinking that I would be lucky just to be like a third assistant coach and I ended up as the head coach of an eighth grade boys team. All the other teams in the league played together last year but I was asked to coach an expansion team so basically I’ve got eight kids who didn’t play last year and haven’t played together at all. It’s going to be an interesting season. We have the shortest team ever so I’m going to institute the old Phoenix Suns “Seven Seconds of Offense” and see if we can just run by people. I’ve got two of my buddies helping out so it should at least be a lot of fun.

Is anybody else thrilled that Penn State got beat? They had no business sneaking into a title game. The way I see it, whoever wins the SEC (i.e. Alabama or Florida) needs to play whoever survives the Big 12 the best (candidates are Texas Tech, Texas, and Oklahoma). Anything else would be ridiculous. If USC or Ohio State gets in, I’ll be outraged. The Big Ten and PAC-Ten Conferences stink. Heck the Mountain West can run with anybody they put on the field. BTW I hope everybody has Nov. 22 circled on their calendars. BYU has to win two games (including Nov. 22 at Utah) and then we have a three-way tie for the MWC championship. Then who gets into a big bowl? Everybody cross your fingers that Boise State slips up so that we can even have that conversation.

Just a couple of words about the NBA. Is there really any contest between Lebron James and Chris Paul for MVP? Think of it this way. Could Paul get the Cavs into the Finals? No way. Not a chance. But what happens if you put Lebron on the Hornets as presently constituted? He would win the next two titles and then think about bolting to New York when his contract is up. Don’t get me wrong, Paul is a great point guard, but Lebron is going to be in the conversation for greatest player ever. It’s a whole different level.

The BrOwN Side of the Family.

2008-11-07T14:46:00.007-07:00

Here are some pictures from our trip to St. George-
CoNgRatUlAtiOnS Nikki and Marlin!
ps. I never realize how truly white I am until I am with them! They all definately bring some excitement to my life : )

2008-11-07T14:23:00.002-07:00

Here are some pictures of my pumpkin bouquet and Japanese design from floral class. I highly recommend this class just for the fun of it!

Busy Busy Busy

2008-11-03T22:09:00.002-07:00

So we've haven't updated this thing in forever! No excuse except for what's in the title. This will just be a quick update with more to come later this week. I'm going to try to get something in at least once a week from now on too. Anyway...

So we just got back from my cousin Nikki's wedding in St. George (congrats!) Tons of fun hanging out with the fam. We'll post pics soon. Jamie is crazy busy with school and this baby keeps on getting bigger. I took the GMAT last month and now I'm doing applications for Grad school. I'm hoping to get into a sports administration/management program. We'll see how things work out. That's all the big stuff right now. It's getting cold in Provo which stinks but basketball season is just heating up so that's a plus. We already got to one Jazz game, the home opener against the Nuggets. Good times.

Sorry for the lapse between posts. We'll try not to do it again...

Grandma and Grandpa

2008-09-29T18:26:00.004-06:00

So my parents are having a hard time with deciding on what to be called. They don't want to be called just grandma and grandpa. So any suggestions???

2008-09-15T15:32:00.010-06:00

Here she is!

You can see her looking at us and waving!

Swami was a little scared, because he thought she looked like a skeleton until he learned that she just hasn't developed any fat yet : ) He will be a great dad.

It is a little hard to figure this picture out, but the arrows are pointing to her girl parts.

In this one you can see her tiny, little foot.

Do you see any similar features between Smeagol and our beautiful little girl? Well, last night Swami and I were talking about how he was surprised that you could see her bones...and the bright idea came to his mind that she looks like Smeagol (because you can see her spine), LOL. Luckily, she is developing well and everything is normal so I know she will be a cutie. This whole experience is much fun, and we are so excited. And we will love her even if she does look like Smeagol.

For thos of you who keep asking, here I am at 20 weeks...sorry the picture isn't very high quality.

It's a Girl!

2008-09-11T20:21:00.002-06:00

Hey guys just a quick note. We had our ultrasound today and we found out we are having a girl! We'll probably post the pictures or something. Any name suggestions? Remember, she's Indian so the name has to be phat.

Celebration of the Past and of a New Addition!

2008-08-09T19:52:00.003-06:00

Today Swami and I are celebrating our 2 year anniversary. It is hard to believe that we have been married for two years already...oh how the time flies by! Sometimes I can't imagine a time when we weren't together, but at other times it seems like we just had our first date on Temple Square to see the lights. Nevertheless, it has been two years filled with good and bad, as nothing is ever perfect, but now comes one of the best parts of being married. We are preparing for a new addition to our family. We are so excited and scared at the same time! I am now 14 weeks along and feeling like a fat blimp already. We will keep you posted with updates on this new stage in our lives!

VIVA LAS VEGAS

2008-07-17T08:35:00.005-06:00

Finally after 7 months, I got to see my parents!!!! For the week of the Fourth, they came to visit (thanks to my mom's doctor, Hope, for buying their plane tickets!). They flew into Salt Lake, but we decided that it would be fun to head down to Vegas for the week. On our way, we stopped at Bryce Canyon which was beautiful. My dad wouldn't give up seeing a bear though : ) . The Planet Hollywood Hotel was our home for the week; it had the biggest bathroom that I have ever seen in a hotel room. It was amazing! Of course, one of our first duties was to go shopping so that mom could go home with a Coach purse (or as my dad says, cooch purse). We walked the strip and went to the Price is Right Show which was a lot of fun even though we didn't win anything. Then we starved ourselves one morning so we could make it to the #1 buffet in Vegas located in Planet Hollywood, and we were all glad we did. The food was so good; there was everything from Seafood, Italian, Asian, American, Mexican, etc which didn't even include the desert buffet. Needless to say, we didn't eat the rest of the day until like 11pm when we stopped for a necessary McDonalds break! And, thanks to my determination, we made it to an IN-N-OUT. My mom, dad, and I were all first timers, and besides the buffet, my dad said that was the best place we ate the whole time! In fact, my parents contemplated stopping in St. George on our way home! We had a great time regardless of the blasted, hot heat and headed home to watch the Stadium of Fireworks in Provo for the Fourth. The best part of the trip was simply the fact that I got to see my parents (I hate being so far away from them), and as was my hope, we got to tell them that they are going to be grandparents in person!!! It was great. I love my parents so much; they are wonderful. However, I am already taking second place and the grandbaby isn't even here yet! I love you Mom and Dad! Thanks for everything.

Here are a couple of pictures while we were in Vegas. I will post some of Bryce when I get them from Mom. Enjoy!

2008-07-16T18:51:00.007-06:00

This summer has been so busy, but this past weekend we were able to go to Denver for our cousin, Nick's reception. He and Krista were married a couple of weeks ago in California. It was so fun to get to be with the Alletto family even for such a short amount of time, but don't fret, there is always time for a little basketball!

Nick and his beautiful bride, Krista, and Nanna.

Uncle Mike

The Family with a sign to Dan, Nick's brother, who is on a mission in Canada.

Krista was gracious enough to wear the pearls that Nanna gave to me on my wedding day. They were a gift to Nanna from Grandpa Alletto on her wedding day.