It's that time of year...

Merry Christmas! Let's get festive!
Where's the mistletoe?
Let's eat more cake!
Ring those silver bells!
Let's eat more cake!

It's Christmas! And some body's excited! Holla!
To start the outtakes this year, I'd like to state upfront that it was my idea for Gracie and I to wear dresses that matched our couch. Exactly. I like a challenge (have you seen her around?).

Before the fun starts, I'd thought I'd show you a "behind the scenes" shot. Notice the blocks, the piles of never played with toys, my apprehensive face.
The apprehensive face can be hard to shrug off. On the other hand, the flashing baby toy we hooked below the camera to catch Rory's attention...worked great. Sean especially liked it. It played music.

Presenting Autumn, the mother with the ten foot arm. Her boy never gets away.

"Gracie? Gracie? Sean, where's Gracie?"

I believe I've mentioned before that Sean likes himself a good lean. Maybe a bit too much.

"Sean, does my dress make me look ploofy?"
"What does ploofy mean?"
"Big."
"Of course not. Tell Jared to stop licking his wrist."

"Jared? Jared? Are you sure I don't look ploofy?"

I like this photo. We can almost see Gracie, but Jared seems to be lost in a world of deep thoughts. No deep thoughts here, only bright, happy smiles, so we...

Photoshopped Jared!
Merry Christmas! Again! 2011!
P.S. Rory wants you to know that she has developed an awesome pincer grip. Way to go baby girl, keep grabbing small things. Please no more choking pointed sticker stars (long, unfestive story).

The Big Six Years!

Six years ago today, my life took an incredible turn for the better.

Happy birthday dear daughter! You are one loved little girl!

Seven Years!

From this:

To typing with a baby on my lap...

It's been a bit wild, to say the least. And now you know why I can never get rid of my BYU sweatshirts. A wonderful, perfect excuse! Happy seven years! I love you!

Little Pink Dress

Gracie: April, 2006 Rory: August 2011

Be Still My Beating Heart!

Dearest Jazzy

Dearest Jazzy, I was having a horrible case of miss my sister today. So, I thought I'd write you a letter. Just like the olden days, only this letter is digital and will be read by our mother, and possibly Sean. Please imagine my hideous hand writing as you read these precious thoughts of mine. Oh! If you are feeling really in the mood, you can Pandora some Pride and Prejudice tunes. How fun would that be? I alway Pandora P&P when baking bread. It makes me feel all cultured and home-ish, especially if I wear an apron.


First off, this is Gracie at the rodeo. You can't see it, but she's sucking on a blue raspberry icee. She's with her dad. I'm pretty sure she's in heaven. I think horses continue to take up 90% of her thoughts. The other ten perecent focus on food. Every night she prays that she can eat good food. When she's eating a meal she finds extra delicious, she starts humming. She hummed constantly when we shared a Cafe Rio salad. I liken it to purring.

I think I already told you the story about Sean wanting to get our kids dressed up for the rodeo. He didn't really clarify. I thought that meant expensive boots. He meant T-shirts. At least now he knows.
Let's talk about this Rooster. Right now one button on her onsie is hanging on for dear life. I recently bought her new ones, but they're dirty. So, she'll have to hope that one button works hard. She's a delight. An absolute, non-napping delight.

And then there's Jared. We got a bug book, an awesome bug/animal book from the library yesterday. It hasn't left his side since we got home. It has scorpions, and an alien looking beetle in it. Awesome. Ryder would love it.

So, dearest sister, you are far away, so far away, and this is me wishing Sean would stop taking photos.

Love, your loving, pioneer sister, located in the wild, wild, west.

P.S. I think I've picked the colors for our family pictures: Navy, white, turquoise, and hot pink. What do you think?

Not there yet...

So, I think I wrote my last post when I was in the euphoria of getting four hours of sleep IN A ROW. We are now up to steady five hours every night. Sometimes more. Sometimes less.

Anyway, I have big ideas for this little bloggy, blog, blog. And will start them the minute I don't have to immediately fall asleep when I put Rory in her crib. Priorities.

Jared is outside spraying ant hills with the hose. I love, love, love summer. It's my favorite holiday.

Prepare youself!

This blog is now under construction. I know. You will miss the sadly out of date sidebars, as will I, but we must shoulder forward.

I hope to come back soon with a blog about writing, reading and pictures of my kids, because I love to write, read, and spend all day and night with my kids. That is my life. It's what I know.

See you soon! (hopefully in a week or so).

P.S. Gracie just had her dance review. She was spectacular. She is delightful in every way, and comes up with all her own poses.

P.S.S. Pleae forgive any spelling errors. The little abc button isn't working and I can't be bothered to double check.