Homemade family photo shoot

We had our family picture taken back on May, but after a month it was already outdated because Jillian was growing so fast. Now, she's over 10 months old and I decided we needed another family picture taken. The photo shoot took place in the dining room, where we sat on some kitchen chairs. Michael found the right angle for the camera and used the 10 second timer. Annabelle has a hard time holding still for pictures and smiling for the camera, so it took several times before we got one that was satisfactory. When I went to pick them up, the photo lady asked me if I had permission from the photographer to order the pictures. She told me I had to have the photographer sign a copyright waiver. I told her the pictures were taken in my dining room with the self timer feature on the camera and she was shocked. She said they looked professionally done. And here's a cute video of Annabelle and Jillian playing.

Tis the seasn to be busy!

This is my favorite time of year, but it always seems to be the busiest and therefore goes by way too quickly. Let me start with a little bit of an update. A few weeks ago, I posted a farewell entry to our truck. Since that time, we have purchased a replacement vehicle. We are now the proud owners of a Toyota Sienna. We were debating between an SUV and Minivan and ultimately decided that we didn't want to pay an insanely outrageous amount to fill up an SUV with gas. Instead we're only going to end up paying an outrageous amount every time we fill up. By the way, if you haven't met the swagger wagon family (who also owns a Toyota Sienna), you should check this out.

Jillian is crawling everywhere and likes to pull herself to a standing position. She loves to hold my hand and walk around the house. (Yikes, help me. I'm not ready for that stage yet!) She says and knows Michael and me by name (ma-ma, da-da) and is growing up fast. She's been teething for the last 5 months, but only has her two bottom teeth (which she has used to bite me and draw blood several times while feeding). She's got several more that should be coming in soon. (Although who knows? I've been saying that for the last 2months.) Annabelle's preschool is coming to a close. I don't know how she and I are going to deal with the reality of her being home all day every day. She's getting really good with the sounds the letters of the alphabet make and I have plans to get her started with reading after preschool.

We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving with Michael's parents and brothers. I wish I had taken more pictures. We enjoyed ping-pong (I was really starting to get good with putting spin on the ball), swimming, pickleball, board games, and of course, tons of yummy food and good discussions. Thank you, Robert and Cynthia. Merry Christmas!

Visitng back home Part 1

A few weeks ago, I traveled back to my hometown for my brother's wedding. I was very impressed with how well the kids (and I, for that matter) did on the airplane. There were many activities going on and a lot of people around, and we all had a blast. Michael and my sister's husband were not able to come, but the rest family were all there together and I loved it! This post will just have pictures of the wedding and reception, and the entry below will have pictures of other things.
My two sisters and sister-in-law.

Awaiting the newlyweds to exit the temple.

Annabelle and Simon

My brothers in what has come to be known as a traditional pose for them.

The happy couple, my brother and his wife.

Annabelle loved Carolyn's dress and this is them twirling together.

Reception

Our beloved high school physics teacher who taught all six of us kids.

CONGRATS, COLLIN AND CAROLYN!

Visiting back home part 2

Here are pictures of things we did before and after the wedding. Annabelle and her cousin Simon (she's very lucky to have a cousin that's her same age and is so fun to play with) had such a blast playing. They did everything together and I am very impressed that for the most part, there weren't any problems, such as not sharing. There's too much that happened to write about, so I'll just post pictures.

Farewell old friend

I'm very sad to announce that the truck has died. Yes, Michael's beloved 1989 Ford Ranger is gone. We knew its end was coming soon and Monday of last last week, we talked about being prepared for an upcoming purchase of a replacement vehicle when the truck's days finally did end. However, we were not expecting that end to come only 2 days later, while Michael was driving it. Fortunately, Michael was at about as good a place as possible for the truck to suddenly die and he was able to maneuver the truck to the side of the road. It has since been towed to the junk yard and we are in the process of searching for another car.

Farewell, old truck. You've served us well.

Some good video clips...

During the last few days, there have many good filming opportunities. Both Annabelle and Jillian have done some really cute things that I had to get on video and now, here they are on the blog.

Video #1: Annabelle and Jillian playing.

Video #2: Annabelle's cute giggle.


Video #3: Jillian's new noises.


Video #4: Annabelle helping around the house.

Winter 2010 has officiallybegun

After record high temps here last week (which I missed because I was having a FABULOUS time back in So. Illinois with my family for my brother's wedding- more on that later), this week we've seen nothing but snow, the first snow fall of the year. Although I should be glad that it waited until November to snow, I'm still not sure I'm ready for driving on the snowy roads, shoveling the driveway 3 times a day, and dressing my kids like eskimos every time we go outside because it's so cold. However, snow also makes me excited because I LOVE Thanksgiving and Christmas! This is my favorite time of the year and I just can't get enough of the holiday season.You'd think that since I was born in Alaska, I would be a pro at building a snowman; however, I have never been able to build one. I spent most of my life living in a climate that didn't offer much snow in winter and when I did have an opportunity to attempt to build a snowman, I could never make it even look remotely like one.

When I discovered on Monday that the snow we received the night before was perfect packing snow, I decided that I would attempt to build a snowman once again. After picking Annabelle up from school and putting Jillian down for a nap, Annabelle and I put on our snow suits and headed outside. Once again, my initial, feeble attempts were getting me nowhere. But then 2 neighbor boys came over and offered their expert advice. Within 10 minutes, we had a snowman! Granted, it wasn't the nicest one I've ever seen, but there was no mistaken that when you looked at it, you could tell it was a snowman. We tried using leftover candy corn from Halloween for the eyes, nose, mouth, and buttons, but there weren't sticking very well. Here is a picture of my very first snowman!