For Tanya

My darling friend Tanya informed me today (with a tone) at church that she is not so happy with my recent posts, or rather, lack there of. Here ya go toots!

A few weeks ago we went to Cory's graduation party, it was so fun! Here's some pictures of the entertainment.

Our Sen Sei

This was a family affair and as such they made sure the female suits were semi-modest.

John ended up being the overall champion. I made it to the semi's but lost to cory-they guy is a wall.

Here Collin LeeElle is ready for his her next match

The age old saying, "stop doing that, somebody is going to get hurt" rang true unfortunately. This was taken right before Weston pulled a ligament in his heel. It was really swollen and all sorts of pretty colors.

Oh Collin. He fought and lost to just about everyone. It's not his fault he's only 24 lbs.

My Apologies

• Blog vs. Writing the final for my ASL 1 class W - the final
• Blog vs. Grading 26 papers/finals W-grading, unfortunately
• Blog vs. Preparing a lesson for YW W- the YW lesson
• Blog vs. fulfilling my church calling W-church calling
• Blog vs. work W- work (but it was a close call)
• Blog vs. John W-John
• Blog vs. folding the laundry W-BLOG!

If only Lakers jerseys came in blog size

Lil' C-Wade

Last weekend we went down to Anaheim to see this guy play in the all district honor band.

here's collin during the trumpet section feature on "Sounds of Sousa"

(he's second from the right. He said he missed first chair by one point, I personally think his hair held him back. Seriously check out the kid in the blue's hair-he just happens to be first chair.)

Case in point-Collin gels his sideburns down, how embarrassing:)

In all honesty Collin did a fantastic job. When ever I go home he's always practicing. He is a talented musician, he must take after...

Me! Or my Mom or Dad or Kerilynn or every other person in our family.

After the concert we headed over to Joe's. If you are ever in the Anaheim/Disneyland area you must go to Joe's. They have Italian ice and it is delicious!! They have so many flavors to choose from and they are always different because they make them there at the shop. I always have a hard time choosing what to get, luckily they give as many free samples as you want. They also have an orange 50/50 dessert that is to die for! I am not an orange or 50/50 lover however Joe's orange Italian ice swirl with their creamy vanilla is divine!

(Mom-always posing for the pictures, Dad -looking happy as usual:), collin- still doing his GQ pose, Grandma Jex-happy to have dessert, and John looking as goofily handsome as ever.)

The gang at Joe's.

Happy Be-lated Birthday Deandra!

Tre-Von & Deandra

On May 13th my youngest sister turned 21! In true LeeElle fashion here are some things about Deandra

• She is fearless, a quality I've always admired.
• She is great at sports. Seriously any sport. She was the Varsity catcher as a freshman.
• She has mad dancing skills. Not dance recital dancing but um...booty dancing.
• She is fun to be around and makes us all laugh.
• She makes the best mashed potato's.

Happy Birthday D!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy mother's day to two of the most beautiful, amazing, & loving women I know...

My mom and me when I was one

At my wedding.

Again at our wedding. (sorry all of John's baby pictures are in the garage)

Thank you for all you do, we hope you had a great day! We love you!

Aren't our mother's knock outs?

All Hail Master Curtis

P.S. Kevin, next time we see you, you have an IOU for Sizzler. It's only right that we take you there in recognition of your big day. I'll check with Lynn, you check with Ken.

My Husband, the Doctor

In 11 hours this stud will be done with finals and consequently 2/3 of a lawyer! 2 years down and one more to go.

John has been making a big deal about how he will be a doctor when he graduates. While yes this is a graduate degree, it is only a three year degree and when I think of doctors be it PhD or M.D. I think of many many many grueling years in school. We are 2 many's too short to qualify for that title. But still every time John reminds me he is getting a Juris Doctorate and that he is a "doctor of the law"...as Michelle Tanner would say, "oh puh-lease!" He has been working on his future title for years now. This is what he's come up with.

Dr. J. David Tullis, Esquire, Attorney at Law, J.D.

If that's not pretentious I don't know what is. Besides, I doubt there is a door big enough to hold that title.

Mikasa May Be Calling

Here are the finished products from our night at Color Me Mine.

Here is John's masterpiece

I love the Astronaut inside!

And my work of art.

Pleasant Surprise

Last week we got a call from Janelle (John's sister) letting us know that she would be in town over the weekend for a brother-in-law's wedding and asked if we would be able to baby-sit her daughter Caitlyn. My response was a giddy, "yes yes yes yes yes!"

The last time we saw them was at Christmas. We couldn't believe how much Caitlyn had grown since then. She is so adorable and such a good baby. She was cooing up a storm and all smiles! After the wedding Lance and Janelle joined the party. John grilled up some yummy hambergers to go with our pasta salad and watermelon lunch, then we just relaxed the rest of the afternoon enjoying the good company.

We loved spending time with the Mocks...come back soon you guys.

Mythbusters

My husband is great! I loved his blag (a term coined by my friend Julie meaning a blog that contains bragging = blag). To answer some of your questions, all of John's 26 things about are based in truth. Allow me to elaborate his embellishments.

1. I was recruited by UCLA but it didn't go through.
2. I was asked to be Belle at d-land
3. I really did go up and try to accept and award in Elementary school. In my defense Miguel and LeeElle sound a lot alike through a PA system. And besides I was a good student it wasn't uncommon for me to receive an award. I just can't believe my teacher (who chooses the student to give the award to) let me walk all the way up. The worst part was when the principal looked at me and then said (in the Mic.) "LeeElle you didn't get an award". Begin the walk of shame to my seat in the back.
4. I don't want to attend ladies lunch groups and eat sandwiches cut into triangles. I prefer fruit and fine cheese thank you very much.
5. Yes I can sing the music man song.
6. That should do for now.


Thank you all for your phone calls, texts, visits, and comments. I had a wonderful birthday. It was a restful day. I decided not to worry about anything on my to-do like clean my house, file papers, errands etc. Instead I chilled all day. I went to the library then two bookstores, walked around TJ Max, talked with friends and other birthday well wishers, got a manicure & pedicure, and then went out on a hot date.

My hot date was to Color Me Mine. It's an adorable store where you pick out a piece of pottery then paint it yourself. John and I both painted bowls. John painted an awesome space ship on the front of his bowl and an astronaut on the inside. I really wish I could show you our mad skills. After spending 3 hours there, hey it takes time to create a work of art, we picked up some yummy burritos and headed home to watch Lars and the Real Girl. Loved it! It was quirky, heart warming and entertaining. The premise makes you raise an eyebrow but honestly there wasn't a swear word or bad scene in it (at least not to my memory). Ryan Gosling did a fantastic job! I would recommend it.

As Old as Her Tongue and a Bit Older than Her Teeth: A Pragmatic Approach to LeeElle's Birthday - By John Tullis

One's birthday is the day that one should get the gift one has been wanting all year. LeeElle is always telling me I should blog. I always tell her that I would really like to, and then I laugh. But I decided it could make a good birthday present. If there is one thing I've learned while being married, it is that you should withhold from your spouse the things they really want, just until they want it so badly that they can't take it anymore, and then give it to them as a gift on a special occasion. Your spouse will think you are so thoughtful.

Last year on my birthday LeeElle posted 26 things about me. It is my turn to return the favor by telling you about LeeElle and things that are important to her. LeeElle really loves me. I am probably the most important thing/person in her life. I am tall and have blue eyes. I am finishing my second year of law school and it has been a lot of work. I like to play guitar and write songs and play in a band. (LeeElle may have posted some of this information already, but since it's her birthday we shoud humor her and learn more about what she loves). This year I made a goal to be more charming. I think that the most important characteristic of a charming person is his or her ability to wink. Once I am able to properly wink I will be thoroughly charming. Here is the latest in my winking progress.

Quick Note. My first attempt at blogging almost became my last attempt when my computer froze and I realized I hadn't saved what I had written. Because I love LeeElle I still would have posted, but I probably never would have ventured into the blogging world again. Thank blog for autosave. Now back to my winking progress.

Here I am preparing for the wink. You can see on my face it's going to be a good one.

Here I am mid wink. I apologize now to all the husbands whose wives leave them because of this photo. Now that I've become so charming its almost impossible to turn it off or even tone it down. For the final stage of the wink please scroll back up to the above photo; I'm not a blog wiz so I am having some difficulty adding photos and moving them around.

This is me when I was a winking novice, and obviously much less charming. That seems like so long ago. I can't even remember the date that picture was taken.

So there it is. Happy birthday Lelly. I think everyone can agree that we know and understand you a lot better than we used to.

I guess to wrap this up I could add 26 things about LeeElle.

1. She has a beautiful singing voice
2. She can sight read piano music like nobody's business
3. She knows all the words to the Music Man song "Ya Got Trouble" (and many other songs from musicals, but that is the most impressive. Ask her to sing it next time you see her. Or call her and ask her to sing it. For now let this pique your interest)
   
   
4. She is a blogoholic (If only I could find where she keeps her blogohol....)
5. She is a college professor
6. She is part of a genetics research team
7. She is very patient
8. She is very good with children, as demonstrated by how well she has raised me
9. She is an amazing sign language interpreter (that's what I'm told anyway; by people other than her)
10. Her dream is for me to make a lot of money so that she can spend her days in women's lunch groups eating small sandwiches cut into triangles
11. She once set a goal to get her body weight down to 7lbs. She gave up when she realized her head alone weighs about 15lbs, give or take.
12. If you ever need an opinion, she's your girl.
13. She has the most amazing dance skillz I have ever seen (you know its true because I never use a "z" in the place of an "s" unless I am serious). Ask her to dance to Outkast sometime, you won't be disapointed.
14. She was once asked to be Belle at Disneyland, but turned it down because they were only going to pay her $75,000 a year.
15. She is very competitive, interestingly enough she is more competitive when playing air hockey than any other sport.
16. She played waterpolo in highschool and was scouted by UCLA but decided not to go because they only offered her a full ride scholarship and $75,000 a year. (I've heard of starving students but come on UCLA)
17. Because she didn't go to UCLA she ended up at BYU where we met. Thank you UCLA for being so stingy.
18. She is able to talk more than anyone I have ever met
19. She has recently become a voracious reader, which gives her more to talk about.
20. She loves dessert and even has a dessert stomach so that if her regular stomach becomes full she still has room for dessert.
21. She has been asked to model 3 times in her life (she's only accepted once).
22. She was funny when I met her and has become increasingly so.
23. She loves the beach/swimming/being in the water; for her it is not a vacation unless she gets to bring her bathing suit.
24. One time at a school assembly she went to the front to get an award when she heard her name read. When she got to the front there was no award for her; turns out they had called Miguel, not LeeElle.
25. Her birthday is shared with the day in 1901 when New York became the first U.S. state to require automobile license plates. (She also shares a birthday with Renee Zellweger, her arch nemesis.)
26. She makes me the happiest boy in the world.

Happy Birthday LeeElle. Now everyone do the right thing and leave a comment for her telling her how great you think she is.

The Right Stuff

( Joey, Jonathn, Donny, Jordan, & Danny)

After a long love affair with Jonathan I think I'm going to leave him for Joey-oh baby!

Have you heard the news? New Kids On the Block are getting back together. When I was younger I LOVED them. I had all their tapes, a t-shirt, a pillow case, and a poster of my boy friend Jonathan taped up to the underside of the top bunk (so I could look at him before I went to sleep and when I woke up). I was obsessed. And now I am considering going to see them-how lame is that!

I think all these reunion tours are pretty ridiculous and NKOTB are no exception. I think it's funny actually the thought of them getting back together signing oh-oh-oh-oh-o while swinging their legs from side to side and holding their belt buckles. Isn't' their old fan base in their 20's -30's? Have they been gone long enough to be having a reunion tour?

So anyone up for a concert?

Weekend Update

This past weekend was great except for the record breaking heat. On Saturday I went and interpreted at the L.A. temple. It was the "Deaf Day in the Temple"-very cool. I left a little early so we could drive down to south Orange County to visit Kevin, Sarah, and Simon who were visiting Sarah's parents. I drove our old 2004 Saturn Saturday morning because I forgot to fill up the Accord with gas and man was I sorry. The Saturns AC isn't working so well anymore which hasn't been a problem but like I said it was a record breaking day-93 degrees in El Segundo. That wasn't the highest temp. but keep in mind we live two blocks from the beach so most of the residents here don't have AC in their house because there is a breeze 363 days out of the year however Saturday was not one of them. Anyhow back to the Saturn, as I was driving home (windows down and sunroof open) I felt a drop of moisture slide from my inner elbow toward my funny bone. Seeing as there wasn't a cloud in the sky I was a little confused were this condensation came from, it was then I realized it was sweat, how gross! I don't sweat/glisten/glow a lot. Truly I rarely have drops of perspiration falling from my body and now to experience elbow sweat. That is all the motivation I need to get the AC up and running in that car. I guess that's the consequense for being to lazy to fill up the Accord.

Sunday was actually a day of rest for us! It is so rare that one or both of us do not have meetings, choir, home teaching etc. We read, made a tasty meal, went for a drive, and took a walk down to the beach. The water was unbelievably blue and clear. We finished the day off with some game playing at the Adams. I need more Sundays like this.

From Chelise

A-Attached or single: Attached

B- Best Friend: John

C-Cake or Pie: yummy cake

D-Day of Choice: Saturday or Sunday

E- Essential Item: chapstick and neutrogena hand lotion

F- Favorite Color: it varies because I like them all

G- Gummi Bears or Worms: neither, but if I must choose I'd say sour worms

H- Hometown: Disneyheim, CA

I- Indulgence(s): Food (well really specialty drinks) Baskin Robbins chocolate blast w/ Gold Medal Ribbon ice cream, Hot Vanilla or Pure Vanilla from the Coffee Bean and going to Target.

J- January or July: JULY!

K-Kids: are great!

L-Life is incomplete without: Family and Friends

M- Marriage Date: November 20, 2004

N- Number of Siblings: 3 sisters, 2 brothers

O- Oranges or Apples: apples with caramel

P- Phobias or Fears: Bees, Snakes, and flying rubber bands

Q- Quote: I heart Mark Twain...

I have a higher and grander standard of principle than George Washington. he could not lie; I can, but I won't. -Mark Twain

R- Reason To Smile: I have a new job that I love!!

S- Season: Spring and Fall

T- Tag Six: if you want to...do it.

U- Unknown Fact About Me: What's left to tell? I'm an open book

V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: me like meat.

W- Worst Habit: Now that I've stopped biting my nails (3 mo. so far!) I have none;)

X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: whatev

Y- Your Favorite Food: Dessert

Z- Zodiac: Taurus

Oh What a Night!

Last Christmas our dear family friend and former neighbor Debbie bought us tickets to go see Jersey Boys as a family. We are huge Franky Valli fans! Every time I hear his songs I think of music blasting while doing our Saturday chores. They had sold out their LA performances so she got the tickets for Vegas! Unfortunately it landed on conference weekend.

We woke up at 4:15 am on Saturday to meet Kerilynn and Cory (who we carpooled with). Our plans were to meet at 5 am so we could make it to LV in time to watch conference at a stake center however we all weren't in the car til 6...and then there was a request for breakfast in Baker at Bob's Big Boy. I didn't even know they still existed.

Cory, LeeElle, Bob, John, & Kerilynn

We notice Bob and John had similar hair do's going on

By the time we made it to Vegas it was 10:30-so we missed conference. I was bummed.

We decided to walk around and wait for the rest of the fam. to arrive. We went to the Coke shop and had our own little international soda taste test. There were 16 soda's from different countries. Cory was the moderator

They have a ton of coke paraphernalia

The soda's



The Beverly from Italy tasted awful-bleck! It seriously tasted like Robitussin with carbonation. My personal favorite was the Smart Apple from China. I love the Chinese names...Smart Apple and Smart Watermelon. Most of the fruit ones were pretty good but there were a few that were gross. I'm not a fan of ginger soda, it makes your throat burn, I don't know how my grandma drinks that stuff!

We also hit up the M&M factory and decided to kill some time watching their 3-D movie. Word to the Wise-it's not worth your time, luckily it was free, the 3-D glasses didn't help de-blur the film much but we looked good in them!

On the strip

After stuffing ourselves at the delicious Rio buffet we made our way to the Palazzo to see...

We got there a half our early to get our seats. When we arrived there was a problem with the tickets. They said we were in row B-B. There was no row B-B. And the row Debbie had purchased tickets for (first row in the back balcony) had people in it. hmmm. The supervisor was called and explained they would figure out what was going on. The Seven o'clock start time was quickly approaching and the theater was filling up and we were still standing in the aisle seat-less. The show started so we stood by the door trying to watch the play but it wasn't really working. Finally the manager came back and apologetically explained that they had double booked the seats. She then said they had 12 seats throughout the theater so if we would split up we could still see the show and then after she would "take care of the rest". **Note: it was opening weekend of the play and the casino/hotel isn't completely open so they're new at this** We then set off to our seats. John and I were some of the last to go. We followed the usher to the orchestra level and proceeded down the stairs and we just kept going and going and going and going. He stopped at second row center! If there had been a pit orchestra we would have been sitting on the 4th and 5th chair violinists laps, respectfully. Pretty good seats eh? At intermission I made sure to find the rest of the family to rub in our seats. After gloating we decided to switch places with my brother Collin, who loves Franky Valli, and Cory. We all were on the orchestra level and had good seats so it wasn't that bad.

After the play the manager apologized more and then reimbursed Debbie for 4 tickets and then gave us 12 tickets to be redeemed at any time for any show at the Palazzo or Venitian (Jersey Boys, Phantom of the Opera, Wayne Brady, and Blue Man Group are the current shows). Not bad. So we missed the first 15 min. or so but we all got better seats and have free tickets to come back! We then took our picture in front of the sign and as we were taking the last photo some random guys came and stood in the picture with us. They just so happened to be cast members! It was a really fun night!

Overall I really liked the play. The only downside was the amount of swearing. I don't know if it's Italians or people from New Jersey, maybe it's both but they love to swear. The profanities were a bit excessive, OK, they were way over the top. But the songs were great, the actors did a fantastic job, they actually played the instruments-very impressive! I loved the way the told the story and set it up. Thank you Debbie we had a great time! So when's our next trip?

Happy Birthday!

My cousin Terina is 30! Here's the picture I never posted because I look horrible it-cest la vie! (there's my horrible french in honor of you TJ). I hope you have a great day. I'm not even going to try to compete with Shelly's post...who could?

Ahh the memories...

• When we did the Roger Rabbit in the middle of the street in front of your old house.
• Going to your Dads company party and drinking sooo much soda. Then when it was time to leave we took one or two for the road and quickly downed them. Bad Idea. Especially because your Dad wouldn't pull over and we nearly pee'd our pants.
• The camping trip you and Dawnette came on with my family. We played slug bug, they had one big open shower, I fell in quick sand, and you had a perm.

good times.

It's Not Summer Yet

Last night as John and I were laying in bed I felt his foot brush over my leg and then I heard...

John: "Is that your leg or a sock?"
LeeElle: "My leg!"
John: "I thought I felt ridges"

Maybe I should shave more often.

Wordless Wednesday

Day Trip

John was on spring break last week and being the gem he is he went into school everyday so we could carpool. Needless to say it was not his ideal way to spend his week off school so on Saturday we decided to hike around Griffith Park and go the observatory. Our hike started out along this beautiful stream covered with 26 different kinds of ferns. It was nice and cool because of the tree coverage but that didn't last for long. Soon we were hiking up a steep hill with a ton of switchbacks in 90 degree weather and no foliage for shade. It was at that moment that I came to realize even more so than before of what horrible shape I am in. I was huffing and puffing like no body's business having to stop to catch my breath and get a drink way more often than I care to admit. I normally will persevere through or say to myself, "If John stops then I'll stop." But John didn't stop so I had to stop him. It was pathetic! We FINALLY reached the top of the hill where I practically ran into the observatory knowing that the AC in there was waiting for me.

Once inside we looked at the new exhibits ( it just opened after being closed for improvements for 6 years). They were really cool and user friendly and one of the best parts is the observatory is FREE! It's a beautiful place with amazing architecture. We hope to go back at night sometime soon.

Here is one of the really cool telescopes they use

And the two of us with the Hollywood sign in the background. It's not a flattering picture but whatcha gonna do?

It was a nice day with not so nice air quality...that must have been the cause for the huffing and puffing right? We had a blast and I'm determined to get in better shape so we can take advantage of all the amazing hikes GP has to offer. You know LA gets a bad name often but there really are a lot of things to do that are free, outdoors, educating, and enjoyable right around the corner, you just have to look.