Help!

I have a crisis! I can't get rid of the Thanksgiving background on my blog? It is from thecutestblogontheblock.com. Any ideas?

Thanksgiving Rollercoaster

Thanksgiving was a rollercoaster event packed with highs and lows. Let's begin with the "highs".

1. The Turkey Trot. Initially I thought this would be a low point in our vacation. My mom signed the whole family up for a 5K run on Thanksgiving morning. Usually, the words "Kari" and "5K" are never mixed together but for my mother's sake I decided to give it a try.

And I am proud to say I actually enjoyed it. I powerwalked and came in 1421 place. Not bad considering this is several hundred away from last place. It was actually really fun and a great way to justify all the eating I did that night.

I wasn't the only one who found the Turkey Trot to be a "high". Quin thought that the muffins they provided at the end of the race were exceptional.

And Kyle (my brother) thought it was exceptional that they provided Miley Cyrus cut-outs to pose with.

Now lets move on to a low of the vacation:

2. Quin discovering his angry face. On this trip it was rare to have a smiley Quin for the camera. Instead I usually got "angry face" whenever I wanted to capture a special moment. Just look below to see my frustration:

Now in this one with Nana, Quin was so sick of someone trying to get him to smile for the camera that he ripped of Nana's glasses. Shameful, I know. At this point I also discovered another low of the vacation...

Disneyland exhaustion. We were able to go to Disneyland twice over the break. However day 2 got to be a bit much for little Quin. I think the constant singing, crowds of people, and twirling and whirling on rides became quite overwhelming. We also learned that that Tram ride to the car is a long and tiring journey.

Now lets move onto a high:

3. Disneyland. While there were a few challenges, overall Disneyland was as wonderful as ever.

However this visit was particularly exciting because we participated in a Disneyland scavenger hunt. My mom took 60 pictures of random objects within Disneyland and California adventure over the past few months. On the day of the scavenger hunt we divided into teams and were given 2.5 hours to find as many of the objects as possible. Now when I say random I mean random. there were pictures of lighting fixtures, wall paintings, drinking fountains, benches, statues....it was tough. But as you all have probably guessed it wasn't to tough for team Doty. We were the winners of the scavenger hunt (we missed 4 pictures) as well as a $50 gift card to Disneyland.

The ultimate losing team was my Dad and Uncle Dan. They only made it to one park and expressed their deep dislike for the details of Disneyland afterwards.

I thought I would throw a shout out to our greatest competition. Kyle, Cousin Liz and Kenzie were fierce competitors. Liz was also a good sport as was illustrated when she was the only one who clapped when we were presented with our gift card. One team's picture is not provided because they were sore losers and hissed when we were presented with the gift card. I won't name names but I will say that the team leader's name started with an "H" and ended with an "aylee".

And our final adventure was eating Thanksgiving Dinner at Mimi's Cafe. Now this is our favorite restaurant but we were a little disappointed because it was so crowded. We thought it would be super empty, but apparently it is the hang-out for elderly people who don't like listening to loud babies on Thanksgiving. Despite this it was great seeing family and friends and enjoying time together- a definite high.

New Moon was Awesome!

After the serious disappointment of my first viewing of Twilight (I like it more now that I have seen it more than once) I am excited to say that New Moon was way better! In fact I loved it!

Thanks to Miss Andrea Hanson I was able to see an early showing of the movie at 8:30 in a private theater called Cinetopia. Impressive I know. I was nervous. I was excited. And now I am pleased.

The only thing that really disappointed me was that for most of the movie you see Jacob running around like this...

So when you see Edward without his shirt it is majorly disappointing (notice how they covered him up a bit more).

However I didn't just like the movie because of the "shirtlessness". I thought the acting, special effects, make-up, directing were all significantly better. I won't give any more away. Go see it for yourself!

Today I met Clinton Kelly

Today I became one of those crazy fans. One of those star struck people who blurts out the whatever comes to their mind when they see a famous face. But today I didn't see just any face. I saw Clinton's face....Lets start from the beginning.

4:00 I get a text. It is from Malina (my mother-in-law) and it says "Clinton Kelly is at the Mall." With shaking fingers I call her. I quickly gather the essential data. He is at Washington Sqaure signing books and will be there another hour. I fly into action. I yell at Bryce to grab Quin and a pair of clothes for him (he was still in his PJs) and get in the car. I grab my book "Freakin' Fabulous" by Mr. Kelly himself from my bookshelf. Suddenly I realize I have not showered today. I am wearing no make-up. I am in my Pajamas.

It is crunch time. Clinton's advise flies through my mind...Dark wash denum...Sweater with attractive detailing...animal print ballet flats....I quickly gather my outfit and throw it on.

I jump in the car where Bryce is waiting with Quin in tow to cheufer me to the mall. I do the best smokey eye I can as we go over out gravel driveway.

4:30 I arrive at the mall. I powerwalk to the front of Macys. I see signs "Clinton Kelly Makes Over America Tour". Clutching my book to my bosom I approach a large crowd...and there he is. A beam of light shines down to a desk and there he is in all of his 6'4" glory. Clinton (thump thump goes my heart).

I approach the end of a long line of people where I am met by two security gaurds. They ask to see my wristband.

"WRISTBAND?!?!?!?" I gasp

"Yes...you get a wristband when you spend $100 dollars on women's apparal at Macys. You also get a complimentary copy of Clinton Kelly's book 'Freaking Fabulous'"
"But I already have the book" I exclaim "Can't I just have him sign it?"

"No" the cruel gaurds reply.

O.K. so I move on to plan B. Buy $100 dollars worth of Macy's clothing and just return it the next day. As I approach a rack of expensive looking clothing I notice a Macy's worker stamping reciepts. I casually saunter over to her and hear her explain to a some rich customer that the stamp on the reciept means that you cannot return the items, but allows you to get a wristband. DRAT!

On to plan C. Get Clinton's attention by being a crazy fan. At this time Bryce has taken Quin to the play area in the mall so he doesn't get stampeded by crazy fans (aka his mom). So I turn to Malina who waited for me amid the madness and I tell her the plan. I will stand directly in front of Clinton and she will take a picture of me with him in the background. She agrees and we proceed with plan C.

Malina takes this picture and a flash echos through Macys. I ask Malina to take another.

Malina takes this shot. Another bright flash and this stinkin man walks right in front of Clinton!
But wait! Clinton looks up from his desk directly at me. We have eye contact. He speaks. "Hi"
I say the first thing that comes to my mind. "Clinton I love you!"
He smiles and says "Well thanks"
I need to say something else..."You are freakin fabulous!"
He smiles in an "this girl is kinda crazy but dresses well kind of way"

My life if complete.

Advise from Quin: How do you have a Happy Halloween?

Don't let anyone put you in a costume that makes you look 10 pounds heavier and covers your ears.

Interesting Facts about Little Boys

1. Little Boys like climbing on things without their shirts on and with their diapers hanging out the back.
2. Little boys have strange favorite toys...like a Shark Vacuum. One little boy I know likes to bang the shark vacuum on everything he can find until all of the vacuumed up food comes back out. Guess what this little boy does next when he sees the dried-up macaroni and stale cheerios lying on the ground? I will give you one hint... Boys are gross.

Apples and Pumpkins

Since moving to Oregon, my favorite season has become Autumn. I love the colors of the leaves, the excitement of the holidays and the cozy "chill" in the air. What else do I love? The apples and pumpkins.

We journeyed to our favorite pumpkin patch this past weekend to do a little pumpkin and celebrity hunting. We found Amy from "Little People, Big World" and spotted her kids in the distance. Quin discovered that he like running through, into, on top of, over, and under the pumpkins. Bryce discovered that he liked cheating in the corn maze.

Can you find Jeremy Roloff in the backgound?

Along with our pumpkin adventure we also went to the Apple Harvest Festival in Champoeg Park. It was a fun celebration of a favorite fall fruit. All the workers were decked out in old time clothes. They were also making all kinds of goodies (applesauce, applecake, apple butter popcorn, apple cider) the old time way. Man were those samples yummy! Quin's favorite was the sliced apples rolled in dirt...his tastes are very earthy.

Where are the Doty's?

Over the passed few weeks you could have found us tubing in Detriot Lake...
Exploring Wizard Island at Crater Lake...

Riding bears in Yosemite...

Camping at Grand Sequioa

Hanging out at L.a.'s tarpits

Shopping on Rodeo Drive...

And kissing the had of the Great and All-Powerful Mouse....Mickey!

And there is still more to come!

Celebrating 4 Years Country Style

4 Years ago, yesterday, Bryce and I were married at the San Diego Temple. So how did we celebrate our union.... ...by 2 stepping at a local Honkey-Tonk called Bushwackers. Not exactly the elegant and beautiful affair that our marriage cermony was, but it was fun nonetheless.

Now don't look for us in this crowd...we arn't in the picture. But I felt that this image accurately showed the crowd that was there last night- couples between 40 and 60 years old. We showed up for free dance lessons at 7:30. We enjoyed learning the basics of the two step together until our instructor told us that we were at a "social" dance hall and would be switching partners. I was a little hesistant when I realized that my next dance partner wasn't Bryce and in fact had a hearing aid. After 7-8 awkward dances with sweaty guy, shaking guy, super tall guy, scary hawaiian shirt guy, mustache man, really really old guy, and bossy guy I couldn't help but laugh. I was definately making memories. Luckily when our instructor asked us to find another new dance partner Bryce gallantly walked up to me, introduced himself and asked me to dance. Whew! Overall it was a fun experience and it truly made me grateful for my guy. Bryce you are one two-stepping Romeo...way to sweep a girl off her feet.

a One-derful Day

Quin is officially a one year old. Holy Cow. Everyone says the first year goes fast and they are right! To celebrate the momentous birthday we started with a party at Quin's favorite park. Quin was loving running through the fountains.... ...and eating good birthday food with all of his buddies, until................

he got stung by a bee! The poor kid got a gift from an angry insect. However he didn't let it keep him down.

After a few minutes and a sip of juice he was all smiles again. And so were mom and dad.

The next event was opening presents at Grandma and Grandpa Doty's. Quin was really excited.

We had his favorite meal for dinner- macaroni and cheese and cantelope. Mmmmmmmmm.

And to finish off the day he even had some cake (he really did enjoy his dessert although his face seems to say otherwise in this picture!)

It was a one-derful day. We are so grateful for out baby, or I guess I should say toddler, Quin!