Wedding Pictures at Last!

I kmow, I know I've been very neglectful (is that a word?) of my blog. I'll admit, I've become a bit of a Facebook junkie, but that is no excuse. I'll have to add updating my blog to my list of new year's goals. Anyhow, I finally got some pictures of the wedding! Christmas soon to follow!

The beautiful bride and groom.

Kate, Geoff and Ry hiding in Geoff's suit.

Too cute.

I thought this picture of Taylor was cool.

Emily the flower girl.

Isn't that the cutest ring bearer you ever saw?

Nutcracker Performance

Once again our school put on a fabulous showing of the Nutcracker. Both Emily and Nathan participated and did a great job. Of course being the person I am I forgot my camera. It seems that if I'm not deleting photos I'm not even bothering to take them. Fortunately I've got good friends who do snap an occasional photo of my children. So here are the two photos that I have. Enjoy! Well the picture of Em didn't turn out so great. Maybe I'll have to order it and see if it works then. Anyways, you get the gist. :)

I'm Thankful.....

There are many things I'm thankful for, but here are just a few.

Nate's Birthday

Ok, ok I know. I am so bad at posting, can I still use the "I'm busy" excuse? Who isn't? Our little Naters just turned 6 and it was really fun. Mom "finally" let him have a friend birthday party. Let me tell you 7 little boys dressed as pirates looking for treasure....can you say barely controlled chaos? It was lots of fun though and I'm pretty sure the birthday boy had a good time.

I think he liked it.

Walk the plank you dogs!

Argh!

Here's some cute recent photos. I want to know why is it when you have this great picture you notice after the fact that there is something hanging off the baby's nose?

I'm Glad It's Over!

I am so glad this election year is coming to an end! I appreciate the fact that I get to vote and I take this privilege very seriously, but boy am I glad it's over. Prop 8 has been an ugly issue on the ballot. Ugly because no matter how you put it, if your belief systems are not the same you are not going to agree on this issue. So I'm glad it's over. I took Ryan and Kate with me to vote and Ryan got quite a kick out of the whole thing. You would have thought he was running for office the way he carried on with the poll workers.
I hope all of you took the chance to get your voices heard!

Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet

So I've thrown together a modge podge of our fall festivities. Unfortunately they are not in the correct order, but the only reason you would know that is because I told you. We have had a fun Halloween, but I'm glad it's over. We had to get the kids dressed up at least three different times and quite frankly I've had enough of it. But the kids were happy and got lots of chocolate so how can I really complain.

Waiting for the hay ride at the pumpkin patch.

Ry's big find.

Here they are just before trick or treating. Taylor, my niece, is holding Kate.

Ryan and Kate on Halloween.




Em and Nate at their school on Halloween. Nate decided to switch to a pirate for the school event.

Kate the Spider.

Here we are. Nate the Knight, Em the Witch, Mom the Crazy Cleaning Lady, Ry the Cowboy and Kate the Spider. Geoff finally made it to the party as Mr. Clean--yeah he's just not the right build for Mr. Clean, but it was pretty funny seeing him bald. :)

We finally got some pumpkins for the kids to carve. Even Kate got in on the fun.

Doesn't Ryan's face say it all?

Why is it that nobody likes digging the guts out?

The Wedding Pictures That Never Were

So I had hopes of posting pictures from my sister Amber's wedding. The kids looked darling, especially Emily and Nate who were part of the wedding party. Ryan and Kate looked adorable as well. My niece Taylor was a doll in her lavender bridesmaid dress and curled hair. The bride looked beautiful and the groom dashing, but alas you are going to have to just picture these fine people in your mind. "Why?" you ask. Well because someone (whom shall remain nameless, but since you're reading her blog it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out) is technilogically (is that a word) inept. Yes, every picture is gone. It was a beautiful day in a beautiful setting. I could blame this mishap on a variety of things: lack of sleep, stress, idleness of thought, but I liked the idea that I was trying to develop my blog readers imaginations.

For my family who can never see enough pictures of the kids, I've attached the most recent picture I had off my phone.

Ryan's First Day of School

So Ryan started pre-school today. It does seem like he's really young to be starting and he is, but he seemed ready so we gave it a shot. It helps that a couple of his friends are in there, well helps me. We take him in and put his lunch box in his cubby and his first reaction is "Oooh, sick!" to the bugs and lizards on the table. Then off he went to play with the cars and was happy as can be. No I didn't come home and cry, but kind of felt like it. He's growing up way too fast, but is lots of fun.

I added some pictures of Kate. Her latest tricks are rolling over and laughing. I love it.

You got to have a good breakfast before school.

Bye Mom, yeah he barely noticed I left.

I love how she is sucking her fingers.

And we're back...

So we have managed to survive the first week of school. I have to say I was more than a little apprehensive when on the first day Emily cried when we dropped her off and Nathan cried when we picked him up. After talking to Nate awhile about how his first day I was I asked him, "Nate that sounds so fun, can I come with you tomorrow?" and his response was, "well you can go, but I'm not going." YIKES! But now we are on day four and everyone went to school with smiles on their faces. Nate says everyday just gets better and better. Em says she is having fun too. Even Ryan is better behaved at home while they are gone, hmmm.

Our big third grader and kindergartner.

And yes, I came home and cried.

What Boys Do.....

When left to their own devices.




Lesson learned:
1. Never leave a full bottle of babywash next to a tub with jets.

Something I Had To Share

It's my turn to play the organ this week, I'm one of eight amateur organists in our ward, and I had to share the funniest post from my friend Michelle (another organist in my ward). If any of you play the organ I think you'll totally be able to relate! Thanks Michelle!

A Day in the Life of An Organist
8:09 Congratulate yourself that you are leaving the house a minute earlier than intended. Ignore the fact that you didn't really brush your three year old's hair or put on makeup. Sniff the baby as you descend the stairs and realize that it's more that a little apparent she hasn't had a bath in a while (milk in the neck creases apparently turning into stinky cheese.)

8:14 Arrive at church parking lot. As previously arranged with husband, jump out of car, hymn book in hand while he carries thirty pounds of baby and gear into the church.

8:16 Jump in with gusto to practicing the closing hymn in the guise of prelude music. Since no one is in the chapel yet, play it over and over again to calm the before-performance jitters.

8:21 As some people trickle into their seats, practice the other two hymns as prelude and other various hymns you know by flipping through the hymn book.

8:27 Since church will start in three minutes, begin in on real prelude: two hymns that go well together facing each other in the hymn book which you can actually play.

8:28 Make promises to yourself that next time you play the organ you will practice a lot more. Try not to envision self running out of the chapel screaming when hymns turn out too difficult to play and ward membes stand up, point and laugh.

8: 32 Start to get sick of playing the same two songs over and over. Why isn't the bishopric standing up yet?

8:34 Start to worry that people in the congregation are actually listening to the prelude this time and are getting as sick of the same two hymns as you are and are organizing some sort of strike. Changing stops and keys can only get you so far. Calculate if the time it will take to flip through the hymn book to find another prelude song will cause the "oh I thought we were starting since the prelude stopped but we're not and now let's all stare at the organist flipping through her book" silence to ensue.

8:36 Decide the conducting member of the bishopric will never stand up and you will be playing prelude for at least another half hour. Quickly flip through book and land on a hymn you don't know very well. Start playing it anyway, trying to mask many mistakes.

8:36:30 First counselor stands up.

8:40 Between the opening and sacrament hymn, realize that your legs are half asleep and from reaching forward to change the volume. Start waving your legs around trying to get some feeling back into them and try to keep from laughing as you feel pins and needles.

8:45 During sacrament hymn, start to feel confident enough in your playing to sing along, immediately lose your place and trust your fingers to play the right notes in the very long three seconds it takes to find your place again. Your fingers don't let you down.

8:46 At end of sacrament hymn, flip through book to closing hymn and change stops as quickly as possibly (as all planned out in your head during the last verse of the sacrament hymn) before the sacrament prayer starts.

8:47 Actually concentrate on the sacrament since you don't have a baby (or three year old) to shush, coddle, and entertain.

8:50 Luckily your legs aren't asleep anymore, so you make it back to your pew without falling over.

9:19 Realize the three year old needs a diaper change before nursery and sneak her out the back.

9:19:30 Realize the diaper in question is dirty, not just wet, and wipes are still in the chapel.

9:20-9:25 Change diaper anyway and run (er, walk quickly and reverently) back to the chapel, hoping the closing speaker is still in fact speaking.

9:31 Waiting outside in the foyer for the speaker to finish, concentrate on trying to remember the name of the other ward member in the foyer with you.

9:31:15 Suddenly realize there is silence in the chapel.

9:31:20 Pull open the doors as you hear "We would like to thank", push your three year old toward the right pew and continue walking up the aisle, "We will now close with ..."

9:34 During the last verse of the closing hymn start to feel a bit celebratory since you won't have to play again for eight weeks. Start imagining trills and embellishments in the last line, miss a note, add it a split second later as some unintended syncopation and finish the hymn.

9:36 Feel so good about getting through the meeting, start playing hymns you've never played before as postlude, since the general roar in the chapel will drown it out anyway.

9:37 Decide to stick to the prelude hymns you actually know after all.

What A Month!

Well we've really packed it in this last month. Our big girl Emily was baptized this month and we also blessed Kate the same weekend. Two precious girls that we are so lucky to have. It was really great to have some of our family with us for these special events.

Em and her grandparents.

Blessing and confirmation day.

We are so blessed.

After our whirlwind weekend it was off to Utah for a family reunion. It was great to see cousins and family we haven't seen in quite some time. My mom, bless her heart, nearly knocked herself out putting this together, but it was really nice. Nearly 100 people were there!

We spent the rest of the week exploring Monticello. Yes you can spend a week doing that, you may have to repeat a few things, but you can spend a week exploring Monticello.Playing in the reservoir.

Making and eating smores at the ranch, yum!

Searching for fossils on the mountain.

Swimming in the dilapidated city pool.