Stella the Genius!

I bought Stella some animal puzzles for Christmas, thinking that we could just work on learning some animals and then when she was a little older she'd be able to put the puzzles together. Well, she put them together all by herself! She's very advanced for her age . . . huh Lindz. We can't find the blue parrot.

Does she look like a genius? Here is a picture of her saying, "TWO!" before I spin her around in the chair.

New Bishopric

Our second counselor, Erik Masitis, and his family are building a house in Queen Creek that is nearly finished. They'll move next month, so we got a new second counselor on Sunday. Mike Harris was called to be the new second counselor in the Evergreen Ward. Elliot is really excited to work with him as a counselor. He was the Finance Clerk and did an exellent job. Elliot has been "high on Mike" lately. Elliot is always coming home and being "high" on someone who does their calling. So if anyone is wondering how to get on Elliot's good side . . . do your calling!

Travis Campbell (first counselor) - Elliot Dibble (Bishop) - Mike Harris (second counselor)

Landscaping

I think I just realized how grateful I am. Yesterday Elliot was able to be home with us all day long and it was just great! We were out in the back yard yesterday morning trying to figure out exactly what we wanted it to look like when we get it landscaped. It was so fun to plan with him and to watch Stella run around the yard. Then we moved up to the front yard and I realized that I have totally forgotten to mention how great the front looks! Elliot worked so hard trying to get the front landscaping done . . . and so have several other family and friends! I t's finally done, complete with an impressive drip system and several desert plants and rocks. I'm so grateful for the hard work that Elliot puts into making our house look nice and grateful for everyone who is always so willing to come and help us! Now get to work on the back! . . . (I love you sweetie!)

BEFORE (July 2003)

AFTER (January 2006)

Happy Birthday Miles!

This month is such a special one, it's birthday time for you! We'd really like to celebrate this happy day with you! Zippidee-yay and hidee-ho, there's something we can do. We'll sing a song that we all know . . . HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! Happy 4th anniversary of your 29th birthday! We love you Uncle Miles!

So Sleepy

Poor Stella had a rough day yesterday. We barely saw each other which is probably why we were both so cranky. I dropped Stella off at Emily's so I could go work at the Mesa Cannery yesterday morning and after I was done with that, I picked Stella up and we went over to a friends house for the play date for a couple of hours. By the time we got home, it was time for a nap, and then after that it was time for my personal training session. So it was back to the babysitter for Stella for a couple of hours. I really missed my baby and after I picked her up last night, she just didn't want to be put down. We had fun watching "Dancing With The Stars" last night. She likes to spin around in circles when she watches it. Well, after that was over, of course I had to talk to Lindsay about P. Miller's caveman dancing, so we were on the phone for a while. Stella sat at my feet after a while and just started staring off into space. Soon I felt the pressure of her head resting on my leg and noticed that she was falling asleep! I wish I could have taken a picture of it, but moving would have ruined the position she was in. She totally fell asleep sitting up!

Yogurt & Spaghetti

Stella prefers to wear her food.

WEEK 2

Yeah, so I really like working out, but that whole eating thing is a real kick in the pants. I crave chocolate and search for it in the house as if it will appear in the refrigerator the next time I open it. I did have a couple of protein shake mixes left over and I made one of those yesterday. That totally curbed my appetite until I made delicious homemade breadsticks for dinner. I gained a 1.1 pounds during week 1. I'm determined to lose my 2 pounds this week. I've met with my personal trainer 2 times and he said he's giving me an extra session (probably because he didn't show up the first day) so we can go over goals and hopefully nutrition. This will be a better week.

Hockey

Top Row (L to R): guy that knows Travis, Travis Campbell (1st Counselor), Emily Campbell, Steve Barrus (Ward Clerk), and Stephanie Barrus
2nd Row (L to R): Dan Earl (Executive Secretary), Crystal Earl, Melissa Masitis, Erik Masitis (2nd Counselor), Elliot
Bottom Row (L to R): guy and lady I don't know, but she got a puck thrown at her

Elliot and I went to the Phoenix Roadrunners Hockey game last night with the rest of the bishopric and their wives. Erik Masitis and Dan Earl are really into hockey and it was fun to see them yelling and making dumb comments to the players and referees. Apparently no hockey fan is fond of the referees because most of the comments from the crowd were towards the referee. It was great to get out and go on a group date with my hubby, and believe it or not, it was fun to watch the hockey game as well. I don’t think we’ve been to a hockey since before we got married. It is very entertaining, but just plain dangerous. The Roadrunners beat the Las Vegas Wranglers 4-1 in a shoot-out.


I think Crystal and Melissa were totally embarrassed by their husband's sudden outbursts.

Uncle Monkey

After just updating my own blog this morning, I looked at my links for other blogs to see who has updated their's recently. I went to Natalie's blog (Make Me), and asked Stella who was in the picture. Stella's response to every picture is, "Dada," but I corrected her and said, "No, it's Uncle Ian." She smiled, started tickling her own armpit, and said, "Oo, oo, ah, ah." . . . the sound we make for a monkey.

Two Seconds

Two seconds is all it takes . . . no kidding. After last night's fly incident and after a messy breakfast this morning, I started some bath water for Stella. I went into her bedroom for 2 seconds to get something, and this is what I came back to in the bathroom.

The Fly

Stella was entertained yesterday for a good amount of time by a fly that was buzzing around her. It started out on her chest, moved to her shoulder, to her arm, and on her head . . . all places she could feel or barely see it out of the corner of her eye. It was so funny to see her slow movements in an effort to catch the fly. She just started laughing when she finally realized that I was watching her. I guess I should probably give her a bath.

Bethany

Congratulations to Bethany Dibble for earning STRAIGHT A's this last semester in school. She is going to ASU and is studying Elementary Education. She's awesome . . . yes, A-W-E (pause) S-O-M-E, awesome, awesome, awesome is she!

New Blogs

My sisters have finally jumped on the band wagon and started their own blogs. Natalie's is called "Make Me" (her favorite comeback), and Lindsay's is called "Just Imagine." You can view them by clicking from my favorite links, or go to www.nservice.blogspot.com or www.lindsaybangart.blogspot.com . Now it's Marci's turn to create one. I'm positive she has some great stories with those crazy kids! I wish I could get Becky and Jenny to create one too! I miss the kids!

Ashby

We had Mike and Mari Ashby over again last night (I hope they don’t get sick of us). We went to get Rock-N-Roll Fingers . . . the best chicken fingers you’ll ever eat in your living life . . . and then went to Tempe Beach Park and walked down Mill Avenue to get some Coldstone Icecream. We came back to our house and I quickly gave Stella a bath so we could get her to bed before it got really late. She loves Mike and Mari and couldn’t stand to be away from them any longer. She ran away from me before I could get a diaper on her, and by the time I caught up with her, she was already sitting between Mike and Mari like she was ready to join the conversation. And if you can’t tell, she loves to show us her pretty smile.

WEEK 1

Well, I did it. I finally joined a gym. I have some lofty goals of losing all of the weight I’ve put on since the day I married Elliot. Not that I’m blaming it on Elliot, this was all my own doing . . . and maybe I can blame some of it on Safeway for having their 2 for 1 ice cream sales so often. I have worked out 2 times with a personal trainer and have another session tomorrow morning. I won’t give every detail of my journey, but I’ve heard that if you really want to do something, tell someone you’ll do it so that they can give lots of encouragement and help! So I’m holding myself accountable to YOU! After the trainer did my body fat test his comment was (looking on the bright side of things), “Well, fat is energy, so we have a lot of energy to work with!” Offensive, yet motivating. So I’m starting at zero. You can count the pounds along with me bi-monthly and watch the transformation, not back to the cute, thin Whitney, but forward into a better, new and healthy Whitney. Go me!
GOAL: Wake up each morning at 5:00 a.m. and go to the gym. Get in the habit. Go to bed earlier. Remove all of the delicious crap from my house (hint – don’t eat it out of the house, throw it away!)

Broccoli

Guess who loves broccoli?

Cookie Monster

This girl loves those chocolate chip cookies!

First Day of Nursery

Stella isn’t quite 18 months old yet, but since I have connections, we’ve been able to put her in a little early. I never wanted to be one of those moms that couldn’t wait until their kids were 18 months old so they could go into nursery, and on the other hand I didn’t want to be one of the other moms who just assumed that their kids wouldn’t do well in nursery because they are clingy. Well, I’m both. It’s been hard to manage Primary and Stella at the same time, and with Elliot being the bishop, it’s difficult for him to be able to do his thing when he has a cranky baby with him. That’s why she’s in there early. Another part of me just wants to keep her away from other kids because I know she’ll get picked on once in a while. After seeing her a few times, I see that she can handle herself until about 11:00 when she gets tired and can’t handle life. It sure is easier to get her to sleep after church now. She’s exhausted. Here are some of Stella’s friends in nursery.
Tyler

Abe

Victoria

Sam

Donovan

Justin

Edith

Hunter

Stella

Mason

Mackenzie

Haley

Shamrock Farms

The whole Dibble Family (except Aunt Xan, she was playing in New York) went to the Shamrock Dairy Farms in Maricopa, Arizona. It was a fun little tour to learn about how Shamrock raises the cows, milks them, and how everything is done! We had a great day and learned a lot! Thanks for the fun outing Grandpa!

Back: Stella, Whitney, George, Adam
Front: Kent (Grandpa), Bethany, Anabelle, Raymond, BJ (Grandma)
Taking the picture: Elliot

One of the "Rosie"'s (the tour guide called the cows Rosie)

They had a big area where the kids could play in a dairy playground. And this is where we learned of the fate of the cows after they have been rendered useless (about 5 years) or happen to be born male.

If we wanted to, we got to pet the new baby calves. This area almost made me barf because it was so stinky!

George

Raymond, George, and Stella

That's a load!

It's chocolate milk time! We all got a free one after the tour!

She guzzled that chocolate milk right up! As far as I know, it's the first chocolate milk she's ever had (what do you say Grandma?)

Bo-Bo

A while ago Stella started grabbing her diaper when she was poopy or wet and would say, “Bo-Bo.” I don’t know if she’s trying to say “poo-poo” or “diaper,” but we thought it was so funny that we would tell everyone who came over. For some reason today, Stella has just been getting into EVERYTHING! She’s had more time-outs today than any other day. My mood was starting to sour until tonight when she brought me her tiny doll and lifted up the doll’s shirt and said, “Bo-Bo.” So I asked her if we needed to change the baby’s diaper. I went back to what I was doing, and then the next minute Stella came out of her room with the diaper changing pad we use to change her diaper and the baby powder. She laid the baby down on the changing pad and sat in front of her like she was going to change her diaper. It was just what I needed to change my mood.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to YOU! I know I've hurried around these last few days trying to come up with some good goals for the year 2006, but then I decided to change my ways this year. I'll not merely jot down a few things in a steno pad that I'm sure will get filed away in the room of never-ending disorder, I'll really think about improving my life this year . . . better than it already is. I already have everything that I've ever seriously prayed for in my life . . . my adorable husband with an eternal marriage that goes along with him, and my absolutely adorable baby girl, bringing with her more joy than I ever thought existed. No, this year I'm going to improve . . . not ask for more, but improve what I already have. It's a miracle already that I haven't had a heart attack or been diagnosed with diabetes or high blood pressure, so since I've been blessed with such amazing health in my current state, I'm making a promise to my little family and myself that I'll improve myself this year so that we'll not only be able to be a family in the eternities, but we'll be able to live on this earth as long as Heavenly Father intended us to be here! I am so grateful for Elliot and Stella and I love them so much. I like to think they couldn't do without me, just like I'd not be able to function without them!

Bad Santa

I guess we should have gone to the library and checked out some books about Santa so that Stella could have had a fighting chance at actually wanting to meet him. As it was though, she hated him at our ward Christmas party, and even candy couldn't solve this situation. After putting up our Christmas decorations at home a few days later, she learned (sort of) how to say Santa, and wasn't as scared of him when he was hanging on the wall. I hear that her cousin, Anabelle, wouldn't even go near him . . . they should really contact each other more often to discuss these things.