When daddy helps out.

"MOM, Daddy got us ready for church."
"Okay come here so I can see you! " (and fix all Daddy's mistakes)

HMMM... not bad, minus the sword and shield, Cache you turned out alright.

Not even white socks? Wow Devin.


Okay lets focus in on the

little one

.

.

.

.
Wow, shoes even match the dress. Looks pretty good Devin. Even combed her hair.

But WAIT You forgot the bow. AHA! I knew I could find something.

Devin: What? I put the bow in her hair SEE!



OH your right. Silly me. My mistake.

I just wasn't aware we were pirates!

just something guaranteed to up lift you today

thanks for sharing this Anne!

I love our dear Prophet.

Here's another

wouldn't be a different world if all youth could hear this message?

I am so grateful my children will.

And this is my favorite talk probably ever:

Who's excited for General Conference?!! (and women's conference?!) And hear so many more messages like this.

i am.

9.16.09

We kept Naomi's first birthday party pretty simple.
presents. bubble machine. friends. cake.
It was a perfect, perfect evening. We just love this little girl with every piece of our hearts.









The cake was a wee bit of a birthday disaster..BUT it was made with love. So that is what counts. Cache had very strong opinions about how this cake should be made. And kept letting me know that it looked NOTHING like the picture I was attempting to copy.

HINT: don't use store bought frosting when trying to do layers. The top layers will be left on the counter or floor before the cakes even done being made, forcing you salvage pieces of fondant that survived the whole falling apart process or weren't eaten by munchkins then throw some sprinkles at it...

Leading the "Happy Birthday Chorus" with the spatula.
It's just the kind of girl she is. Take charge ;)

Happy Birthday Naomi!

This morning I was standing in the kitchen after sending Devin off early. Cache came out of his room EARLY, which is unusual. I said: "Good morning Cache." But inside I was really saying: "What? Go back to bed... I'm not ready to be up for the day."

He glared at me through his squinting eyes as if I had forced him to wake up or something...sulked over to the couch and threw himself on it. I said: "How are you this morning Mister?" He gave a big old "I'm annoyed" breath, stood up,, walked around the couch into the kitchen, put one hand down the back of his pants to scratch his bum and the other he put on his forehead, as if he had a headache, and said:

"Arrrrg...I Hate Mondays."

9.13.09

Devin finished his second set of National boards today. Good job.
I'm making him some rice pudding as I type. Well, it's cooking I
should say.

Sweet sassy.. that boy has a lot on his plate.. BUT you know.. it
seems like everyone does. Really.. I'll keep my own dinner.

But anyway, here is long video for Grandmas and Grandpas...She
really started taking off today. Excuse the mess and annoying voice.
I would say it doesn't usually look this way, BUT... it does .

Before church, this morning, I was unloading the dishwasher. I always start with the silverware, so Naomi won't dump it all over the floor. She's like a shark waiting for me to open the dishwasher. She can sense it from anywhere in the house. Anyway.. after I emptied it, she took off with the silverware holder thing...

I finished up the rest of the kitchen and called her back...
She came wobbling around the corner and handed me the thing,
I looked inside... Just all the essentials you know.

The thing that really got me was where she had to go to get all these things: The comb is from Cache's bathroom, the feminine product from our bathroom, that is cache's breakfast spoon, she probably got from under the barstools and the car is from Cache's closet. I was also very impressed how she had them all in different compartments!

The hand-me-down rule:

you must wear each hand-me-down outfit(and all it's accessories) at least once.

sometimes having a little girl is JUST like playing dolls. Yep just like it. :)

Boys are fun too.

But usually they get more fun when they begin dressing themselves:

"I said.. don't--take--my.. PICTURE!"

p.s. Happy 29th anniversary Mom and Dad!

9.9.09

Devin is back to school today... without a smile on.

Cache started pre-school this week too!

Devin doesn't get summer's off but he got a little 2-week break, to help him catch his breath.

4 days of his break were spent at day-long board reviews and then another 4 days of clinic shift,, BUT in the little time he DID have free, we got to have a few fun days.Thanks to generous friends, we spent a fun filled day and a few evenings swimming, canoeing, eating loads of ice cream(home made) and watching movies. Oh the kids had fun too. I don't know what they were doing.. we were having too much fun ;)

Devin also took me on a date to see Mary Poppins the Broadway production at the fox theater. Incredible.

Our little girl has also started walking. She is pretty proud.

Full of attitude this one. We love it.

Farewell warm summer evenings....

I'm gonna miss you. A lot.

9.8.09

To: My sister Ashley
From: your biggest sister

I just typed the date and realized it was your Birthday.
So... lets just say a word about the funnest, peppiest, most talented little sister anyone ever had! Happy Birthday.
How old are you? 19? I know it is not too uncommon for me to spontaneously laugh or just smile and when questioned about it, comes the response: "Oh I was just thinking about Ashley."

So here is to the:
Beautiful
fun.
confident
opera singing(real operas not just the shower singing type)
hot pink wearing,
big belt loving, red lipstick wearing,
cheese sandwich eating,
weekly temple attending,
most cultured Spratling award winning,
4.o getting,
trend setting,
pedicure giving,
brittney spears t-shirt wearing(you know you did!),
sweetest,
softest hearted
Birthday girl there ever was.
Happy Birthday. Love you.