sniff sniff

Miles' first day of preschool is today!

Grateful Sunday

Stephanie, Baby Elliot and I in the road in Sundance during a particularly unusual sunset earlier this month.

Today has been great, I have a lot to be thankful for:

• the miraculous return of my voice! I almost completely lost my voice yesterday, as a result of a little cold I had been battling. Not usually a big deal, except this time. I had been asked to speak in church today, and as of bedtime last night, had no idea how I was going to make that happen. I prayed that my voice would last long enough for my 12 minute talk, and lo and behold, when I woke up this morning, there it was. I couldn't sing the hymns, but I was able to speak without any trouble. What a relief!
• my friend, Launi, who went out of her way to help me with some Primary business last night, when really we were just supposed to hang out and have fun. I appreciated her determination to get the job done and to help me. Thanks, Launi!
• Neal's dad and Gail, who came up for dinner tonight. We always have a good time and it was great for the kids to see them, too. And they brought brownies.
• my sister, Stephanie, who celebrated a birthday on Friday. The older we get, the more we realize that we are pretty much the same person, and I love that. Her sisterhood is priceless to me, I love you, Steph!
• the super glue that allowed my shoe to be wearable today.
• the fact that I found my church keys after frantically searching for them for a while this morning. We are kind of lost without them at church, so they are very crucial. I'm thankful for all of my little answered prayers today!
• Skyping with Baby David in Las Vegas tonight. Lincoln called and said, "his eyes are open, you wanna Skype?" Um, yes, we did. We all ran to the computer. He is the cutest little dude, we love him!

It's friday!

We made it through the first week of school. This weekend, we hope to relax a little bit, get some yardwork done and spend time with friends. Here are Audrey and Trooper, excited about life!

Random Thought Thursday

I thought I'd adopt my friend, Natalie's practice of posting "Random Thought Thursday." Because why not. Here I will share random thoughts and photos from our life.

• There's a tradition amongst our friends here in Texas to go ice skating on one of the last days of summer. Just to get us in the mood to think about cooler weather, to see if we have any jeans that fit, and because we're kind of sick of going swimming. So we skated last Thursday with some friends, had hot cocoa to finish up, then went home and put our shorts back on!
• I'm giving a talk on Sunday, based upon Elder David Bednar's talk here. It's a great talk, concise and direct, so I don't have too much to be worried about. Except that I'm a terribly boring speaker, get all shaky and have a dry throat the whole time. Oh dear, just let it be Monday already!
• I've started doing some editing/proofreading work for Eliza Magazine, which is making the move to mainly online-only publication (a new trend in magazine publishing). It's been fun, but I had forgotten so many rules about things like hyphens and italics. Great refresher, and though I'm not paid, I do get my name in "print!"
• I discovered a great new singer the other day via a blog I read. Check out Zee Avi, she's Malaysian and has a really delightful sound.
• Miles and I met his new preschool teacher today. She is sweet, and he seemed happy to be there. He starts going twice a week next Tuesday. I'm hoping to start (maybe) exercising a little, going to the temple at least twice a month, and am looking forward to the big hugs I'll get every Tuesday and Thursday when I pick him up at 2:15.
• Primary is kind of taking over my life.
• I have another new nephew, little David, born to my brother, Lincoln, and his wife, Mimi last night. I am totally cuckoo for all these new little boys in my family, I want to eat them up! Isn't he precious? We're so happy that those two are parents, they've waited so patiently, and they sure got a cute one!

World Cup

We had a lot of fun during the World Cup last month. In primary class one Sunday, the children were asked to write a thank you note to someone who had been kind to them or whom they appreciated. This is what Parker made for his daddy. I love the little drawing of them watching a match at the bottom.

Neal was hooked on soccer after his mission to Argentina, and of course the men in blue and white were our favored team. Except for Miles. He proclaimed during one match, "Daddy, my team is Germany."

Well, when Julianne and her beloved German, Toni, got wind of this, they were thrilled. During their visit to a match in South Africa, Toni wanted to be sure he got something for his little German fan. So here is Miles with his mini World Cup 2010 ball, all the way from South Africa via sweet Toni's suitcase.

Thanks, Toni!!

Off they went!

First day of school, 2010

Grateful Sunday

Happy Reunion!

Lawsy, what a weekend we've had! Trooper (the above sneaky puppy) got out of a hole in our fence in Friday morning. We discovered he was gone (without his collar on) about 10 minutes after he left, but as far as we were concerned, he vanished without a trace! We used both cars and spent a good 6-7 hours driving a 1-2 mile radius of our house on Friday, and went to bed disheartened and with no tips. The kids were beside themselves (this is the saddest thing that has happened in their young lives), and couldn't bring themselves to even crack a smile all day. (Miles was actually completely okay, couldn't care less, really. It was driving Audrey and Parker crazy that he wasn't sad!) 

We woke up the next morning, energized that we were going to find him, somehow! I made more (better) fliers, and we pretty much plastered our entire area with them. Low and behold, around 2:30, a nice man from a neighboring street called and said he thought he had spotted our dog a mere .2 miles from our house, trolling around someone's front yard. We ran over as fast as we could, and, sure enough, it was him! He had been on his own for over 24 hours, and we couldn't believe he had survived!

He's normally an inside dog except for outside playtime, and has no fear of cars or roads. Or skunks. So the fact that he made it that long in 100 degree temps was pretty amazing. He really is a Trooper!

So, today, I am grateful for:

• the kind man and his son, who called us and helped us locate our filthy puppy on Friday afternoon. They refused the cash reward we had offered, so we're bringing them a big chocolate cake instead.
• all of our friends who offered hope and stories of their lost dogs who were all found some way or another!
• Stake Conference this weekend. Neal and I were able to go to the adult session last night (so good), and our kids sat nice and still during the session this morning. Some great lessons were taught!
• school starting tomorrow and my kids' nice teachers, whom we met on Thursday. They're ready to go back as second and fourth graders!
• the safe arrival of Henry Clayton Parker, my newest nephew, in all his squeaky chubbiness. Congrats to Elliott and Ginger! 

• my mom, who celebrates her birthday today. Love you, Mom, see you soon!

trees, maybe you can't tell

After our whole tree fiasco earlier this month, our house is getting a lot more sunshine. I was expecting a little more dramatic results, but I was so done with the trimmers by the end of it, that I just wanted them to go away!

Here's our forest before:

And after:

We're hoping the extra sunshine will allow for a little more grass out back. We have big plans for clearing and pathway installation once it stops being 100 degrees outside!

shots on the beach

the whole crew

Couples! Carolyn and I had the same outfit idea. :)

We tried not to stand together!

somebody had a birthday

Our littlest dude celebrated his FOURTH birthday while we were in Florida. He was so excited, we had the party 3 days early.

We got a big Buzz and Woody cake; he had over 20 people at his party!

Opening presents

Everybody's singing, and Miles got a bit shy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MILES! We're so glad you're finally FOUR!

Florida is pretty.

The view from our house (thanks for the picture, Melanie!)

Miles and I playing baseball early in the week.

Our friend, Abby, was so fun all week. She buried Miles and always had fun ideas. He says about this picture, "I'm not really sitting down!"

The beach house where we stayed had a pool, which was super handy because the ocean was very algae-filled this year. And toward the end of the week, the surf was too rough to play in (there were storms in the gulf). Here is a view of the pool from the balcony of the main house. The kids stayed in a guest house across the driveway (SO handy).

One day, the men took some of the kids deep sea fishing. Neal and Parker had a lot of fun and we ate some yummy fish that night!

Audrey and her good friends, Raegan and Callie. I hope they stay friends forever, they have so much fun.

New Orleans 2010

Last year, on our way down to the beach in Florida, we stopped over for the night in New Orleans. It was my first time there and I loved it. There's something really cool about being somewhere so old and distinct. There's really no place like it! We went again this year, this time with our friends, the Lelands.

We stopped for lunch in Natchitoches, the oldest city in Louisiana (est 1714), and not far from Neal's hometown. We're planning to go back at Christmastime, they have a great light festival on the river that we've always wanted to see. We made the kids run a little bit.

In New Orleans, we met up for dinner with my friend from middle school, Kim, who has just moved down there from Alaska. Had a great time! Maybe Kim will email me this photo from her camera. And maybe in that version, my eyes aren't closed.

In the morning, we like to walk down the road a bit to Cafe du Monde for beignets and fresh squeezed oj. So so yummy. This year, we ate our spoils in Jackson Square Park.

Where we got a shot of the beautiful St. Louis cathedral! Then it was on to the beach!

Other favorite Utah photos

Just had to blog a few more of my favorite photos from our trip to Sundance. You can see more at Steph's blog, and all of mine, here.

the crew outside Yodipity

Miles loves babies. He was crazy about Baby Elliot, and liked to sing little songs about him and rub his soft head.

my dad with Oliver, Miles and Parker, at the yummy teriyaki place by Yodipity

Audrey and her walking stick. She sewed leaves and pine cones to the end.

Parker and Jack waiting for their milkshakes, down at the base.

Grateful Sunday

Neal and me on the beach last week

It's good to be back Grateful Sunday-ing again. We were gone for quite a while, and I was without a computer for a long time, but we have returned! We drove in from Florida last night, after spending a week at the beach with some friends. I have a lot to be grateful for!

Today, I'm grateful for:

• our car. We made it the 800 miles each way to Destin without any car trouble. Since our car has over 100,000 miles, this kind of seems like a miracle. I'm grateful for our ride!
• the husbands on our trip who, after a few "straws that broke the camel's back" cleanliness-wise at our first beach house, were able to get us moved to an awesome (clean!) one in a matter of minutes.
• Neal! We were engaged 12 years ago today, on his parents' porch in Tyler, Texas. As we drove through East Texas yesterday, we thought about that night so long ago and all the great things that have happened because we decided to get married.
• the sound of the ocean. There was no oil on the beach in Florida, but the sea was rough and wild because of some storms in the gulf. The first couple of days, the waves kind of lapped up to the beach, but by the end of the trip, they were positively pounding. And I loved every minute of it.
• my counselors in the Primary. I hadn't seen them for weeks (one of them for over a month), but today, we exchanged big hugs rather than emails and I feel so good knowing I have such great friends by my side as we try and tackle this calling together.
• our chorister in the Primary, to whom we bid a sad farewell today. Angi is one in a million, and we have been feeling totally lost since we found out she is moving. We relied on her for so much: fun, stories, and the abundant Spirit she always brought to the room. She's moving to Matthew and Katie's ward in California; you guys are so lucky to have the F* family!
• my mom's doctors, for successfully removing her sad, sad gall bladder. I'm so happy to report that she's feeling better after 5 months of unexplained illness!
• Julianne, for helping me so much while we were in Utah. Neal didn't come along with me, and Julianne was always there to help with my kids and all the others. I told her she'd be in my grateful Sunday post just for running up the hill with Miles after a tumble alone! The fact that I don't know when I'll see her next as she goes to take on the world again makes me a bit teary; we had so much fun last week! Love you, Jooj!
• Facebook! I was able to connect with a friend from 7th grade while in New Orleans last week. She had some great stories to tell and we had a lot of laughs. And we did it all because of crazy Facebook.
• Lincoln, my younger brother, who is celebrating his birthday today. I can't wait for him to become a daddy sometime in the next 2 weeks!

Stuff we did in Utah

We hit up Yodipity in Park City a couple of times. Yum.

Fawned over Baby Elliot.

The boys all looked handsome for church.

They also fought a lot.

The girls in their Sunday best.

And doing girly things like composing a song about the seasons in Sundance to perform for us on their last night together.

More Sundance

Thanks to some of my mom's friends, we're able to go play at Aspen Grove. It's unbelievably beautiful, and the kids never get tired of it!

We stopped by the big root beer mug on the Provo River for root beer floats and snow cones.

And spent lots of time in the hammock.