Jealous.

I am jealous. Of Emma Watson, aka Hermione from the Harry Potter movies. I was looking at a magazine today and saw one of her new ads for Burberry--she looks gorgeous! I love love her. And, she's uber smart! Going to Brown next year. And on top of that, she has a British accent! Oh geez, what I wouldn't give for that. I think if she knew me we'd be, like, best friends. Here are a few more from the ad line:

Goodbye Sally. Hello Lola.

I name my cars. Yes, most anyone who has known me in the past three years knows that my navy blue VW Bug was fondly named Sally. My cars are more than vehicles to me--they're friends!

However, in preparation for future growth in the Garlock family (nothing yet! don't get any ideas.), Sally was retired to my younger, college-bound sister, Jenna. She has been succeeded by the newest member of our family, a white VW Passat wagon named Lola! I will miss Sally--we had some good times and unfortunately received an abnormally large amount of traffic tickets together. Hopefully Lola will bring me better luck in that area :)

Such a cute face.

Madison Avenue

Creative Director Andrew Garlock and his ad executive arm candy, Elyse. Courtesy of MadMenYourself {dot} com.

Private.

Someone made a very nasty comment recently on my post about our trip to the zoo. I took a picture of Andrew and I in some hats that I jokingly dubbed "Asian hats". So, in reply to this anonymous commenter: I'm sorry if I offended. Yes, I do like and respect Asians, and have many Asian friends. Contrary to your belief, I grew up somewhere very diverse, with only a handful of white kids in my high school. And last, yes I did go to many years of college.

Some people need to take a joke and not look at strangers' blogs.

So, in conclusion, to prevent future nights lying awake worrying what a stranger thinks of me--I'm making our blog private! Email me at elysegarlock@gmail.com so I can add you to our list of invitees!

Picnic.

Today we had a picnic with my side of the family to celebrate the return of Tyler & Carissa to Utah. Tyler has a job with Ernst & Young for the next year and will be completing his master's the year after that--then, they will be heading back to Seattle! We're glad to have them close for a little while.

It was a fab day for a picnic. The weather was amazing, and I had fun taking pictures of the fam (especially Ashlyn!) So, here's the result:

Cute girl!

She loves Grandpa.

Trying to feed Aunt Jenna.

The happy couple. Engagement pics? Nope.

The spunky Braxton.

Three generations. Presh.

Ashlyn loved the playground.

Looking cute, again.

Best for last! He's so darling.

Thank you.

I submitted a Petition to Override Satisfactory Academic Progress a couple months ago--which interprets into: I have too many credits to qualify for Pell Grants anymore, since I've been in school so long, so I am begging the head honchos of BYU Financial Aid to give me a break. And they approved it! Hallelujah! So, to the people behind this decision, I just want to say a big THANKS. My last year of school will be much less stressful thanks to you!

Munchkins.

There are many cute kids in this world, and Andrew and I are fortunate to be friends or relatives of a good bunch of them. This post is dedicated to some cute kids in our lives.

Little miss Ashlyn

Jace, excited about his Mario backpack for Kindergarten

Braxton, the child who can fall asleep anywhere

Our cute primary kids. They stress us out sometimes but we love them!

Berkley, one of the sweetest, most good-hearted kids I know

Beck. He's gonna be a ladies man.

Haven, the mature, good picture poser; and Reese, the most excited child we know!

And the newest addition, August Elle. Such a little peanut.

Contests!

One of my jobs entails working at my dad's surgical practice helping them transfer all their charts to electronic medical records. Basically, Andrew scans in charts and I label them with the patient's name and birthdate. Thrilling! I know.

In the course of these events I tend to happen upon a lot of down time--there's only so many blogs I can look at, and I won't let myself online shop. So, a couple weeks ago I started using my time to enter online contests! I am currently in the running to win a Kindle (my fav, I've entered that a hundred times), a Vespa scooter, a flatscreen TV, about 10 vacations, a grill, a $3000 shopping spree and trip to NYC...the list goes on.

I haven't won anything yet, and I never really have in my life, but I think my chances are improving! I'll keep you posted. Anyone ever win anything cool? I need some motivation.

The bun is done!

Summer no longer has a bun in the oven--she has a cute baby girl, August Elle! She was born last night at 6 lbs. 4 oz and is adorable (from what we hear...we haven't actually seen a picture yet! But her other two are adorable so I'm sure this one is, too.) We're so happy for Summer and Bryan and their cute little fam. Yay for babies! I love them.

Good Flick.

Andrew and I went to see the movie 500 Days of Summer this weekend, and we totally loved it! Definitely recommend it. It does need a disclaimer, however, that it's not your typical "romantic comedy". Not the ending you'd expect, but satisfying all the same! And, it features a great cast, including the oh-so-cute Zooey Deschanel and the quarky Joseph Gordon-Levitt. So, see it!

P.S. I am going to change my wardrobe now to mirror Zooey's in this movie. That was half the enjoyment for me!

Endorsed.

Elyse bought these gummy vitamins (for adults mind you) at Costco the other day and I'm obsessed. It's hard to only eat 2 a day. With flavors berry, peach and orange, you can't go wrong with what you pull out. We were Flinstone consumers before, but I think we've found our new daily vitamin.

Colorado Getaway.

We took a wonderful little vaca with my family to my Nana & Papa's cabin in southern Colorado. And when I say cabin, I mean primitive cabin--no electricity, clean water, etc. However, the scenery is beautiful and the relaxation and free time is priceless! My sister, Kristin, and her family were able to come up as well. Tyler & Carissa were the only ones MIA, and they were missed! So, here is a LONG photo journal of our trip!

A little gas pump at a shop we stopped at for snacks after our hike.

At a yummy mexican restaurant in the mini town of Antonito, CO.

Jace and Braxton LOVED the cabin. Here they are watching a parade on the 24th of July in Manassah, CO (where my grandparents grew up).

The crew on the last leg of the hike up to Rough Creek Falls.

Our wood pile, courtesy of the big strong men in our family.

A clean John Deere in the parade that Andrew was excited about.

We made it! In front of Rough Creek Falls after our somewhat grueling hike.

The men in action! Brennan and my dad show us how to chop wood like a real man.

The whole gang at the mexican restaurant.

Baby Bren sleeping on the trip up, and showing a bit too much man-thigh.

Braxton insisted on re-strapping his shoes himself after they had dried--he took a dip in the river by the cabin.

The fishermen: it was an unlucky trip and we caught 0 fish!

The ever cute Ashlyn, decked out in her 24th of July attire.

The chipmunks are our neighbors at the cabin. This chubby one was a fav.

Expelliarmus!

Okay, that was nerdy of me, I know. But, it goes perfectly with the topic of this post--our night at the premiere of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince! We went to a midnight showing with our friends, the other Garlocks, and I personally loved every minute of it. Apart from a few key scenes left out, the movie was fantastic. It was funny, frightening, and fabulous! ha. So here is some footage from our night out. Warning: there were some extreme fans out that night! It was pretty classic.

Mitch & Gloria enthusiastically casting spells while waiting.

Elyse casting spells enthusiastically, and Andrew not-so-enthusiastically, while waiting as well.

The Flip.

So, for our birthdays we got a handy little video camera called "The Flip". It's nice and small, so I can carry it around in my purse! Which means I've been taking random videos of stuff all over the place. Here is a sampling--a video of us at this cool little waffles & fries cafe in Salt Lake with Mitch & Gloria.

And here's the Flip:

Happy Birthday, Dad!

I love my dad SO much--for his Taco Bell and Diet Coke addictions, his love of James Bond & 24, his sense of humor, and for his ever-increasing sentimental side. And Sunday was his birthday!

So, Happy Birthday to the best dad, husband, grandpa, father-in-law, bishop, and guy in the world.