It's time to have a shower for our Les.  We will be having her bridal shower at my house on December 15th at 10:00 am starting with a brunch.   I sent out invitations to her friends and other family members but I thought I could save a little time and effort by just doing a blog post to remind and invite all of the rest of the family.   Tennyson is planning on going to the temple that day as well, for her endowments so it is going to be a busy day.  I am sure Jenny or Tenny will post more about that for us all.  So Liz, Shelley,Morgan, Jenny, Whit, Randa, Tenny, Banner, Stacy, Kelsie, Hannah, Rebecca ,Arden, and Becky, consider yourselves all invited.   A.A. and Madi we will miss you and wish you could be here with us all. 

 

I hope to see you all there.  Hope all of your Holiday plans are coming along.  See you all soon.

Winter in November

We had Winter come a little early this year.  I did not realize how big this storm was going to be this past weekend.  Basically it snowed off and on Friday and most of Saturday.

Some pumpkins peaking out from their snow caves.    The snow made me get excited for the upcoming holiday season.  I was even tempted to break out the Christmas music but I refrained and will wait til Thanksgiving to do that. 

The snow was up nearly to Jonas' knees.   I wonder if this is a sign of what is to come for us this Winter.  This might be the first time that SLC has more snow than Ashton.  Crazy huh?

 

I finally got my kitchen completed.  I decided to do new windows in the kitchen/dining area because I could feel a draft coming in from the big one.  I got new blinds up and so the kitchen is complete.  All done, finished, no more.  I love it.  Now I need to save my shekels for the next big redo. 

 

We think we will be planning a bridal shower for Les the weekend of Dec. 15th.  That is the weekend that Tenny, Arden and Kelsie are possibly going to do their endowments.  Nothing is for sure yet, but hopefully it will all work out and we'll keep you posted.  So hopefully you will all be okay with a trip to SLC that weekend for a bridal shower, a temple session and Tenny's birthday party.  Wow, what a day it will be.

 



A Few Days in Idaho

Back in January after I knew that Morgan was having a baby, I asked for some time off from work to be in Idaho around the time the baby would be born and also to have some quality Olympic viewing time.  It has come and gone and I had such a great time.   

I got to have lots of baby Russell time.  He is such a sweet, good baby and so fun to hold and snuggle. 

Stacy and I pretty much took turns holding him when he wasn't being nursed. 

There are 2 kitties on the farm that were being held and I should say mauled most of the time we were there.  It is hard when there are only 2 kittens but 4 little girls.

There was some tractor time for Jonas and Hannah.  Alan, Zack and Andrew were good sports about taking Jonas around with them to have some farming experiences. 

When  Leah and Maren get together it is all about the dress-ups.  Maren and Leah posing on a rock.  At first they were just sitting on the rock and then I thought they looked so cute so I started snapping pictures.  They were pretending to be mermaids.

Hannah was very good at helping with the little girls.  Lily is particularly fond of hanging out with Hannah.

Lily enjoyed her chocolate cupcake.

On Wednesday morning we decided to drive up to Mesa Falls and no trip to Ashton is complete without stopping to feed the fish.  I remember doing that years ago.  It is still fun to see the fish chomp on the bread.

Looking over the edge of the Falls.

Essie enjoyed the Falls.  Lots of walking and climbing to keep her busy.

Morgan was a real trooper and came along on all of the adventures.  Of course she would, this is Morgan we are talking about.  So the baby was a  barely a week old and was taken to Mesa Falls and to the Sand Dunes at Egin Lake. 

On Thursday evening we went to the Sand Dunes near St. Anthony.  There is a small lake right next to the dunes.  It was perfect for these kids.  Lots of sand to dig in and swimming to do. 

The water is very shallow and so the kids could just walk around in the water on their own.  It was so fun.  I was surprised to find it so entertaining. 

Alan had a kayak that he took.  So a Zack tried it out.

A few minutes later the kayak was empty and Esme jumped in and took it for a spin herself.

We dug in the sand, looked for little shells and played in the water.  It was like being at the ocean except the smell was better.

Morgan and Andrew having a moment.

Look at that cute little face. 

We set an awning up just at the edge of the beach so we could be in the shade and also sitting in the water.  So fun.

Jonas, Zack, Hannah and Morgan heading up to the dunes on the 4 wheeler.

You can count on this girl to do crazy things.  She wedged herself into one of the sand buckets and got stuck.

As the sun started going down I started getting some interesting colors for these pictures.

The kids getting some more play time in while waiting for dinner to be done.  

The kids could not get enough of the water.

We got to see a great sunset.

Leah with plate in hand waiting for dinner to be done.

 

Little Russ holding his plate.  He looks like he already had his dinner and is having his snooze.

We had yummy tin foil dinners, s'mores and banana boats.  Then it was time to pack up and head home.  There were some mosquitoes biting us but we did not realize how bad it was until the next day.  Morgan, Stacy, Hannah and myself got the worst of it.  I have to carry Benadryl cream with me wherever I go.  I am hoping to sleep through the night without having to apply the cream throughout the night.  Mosquitoes aside, I had an amazing time in Idaho.  We had lots of relaxation, among a few fun adventures and I did get some quality Olympic viewing in.  Way to go USA!.  Not looking forward to having to go back to work tomorrow.  Thanks Shelley and Alan for having us all.  It was so nice to get away for a few days. 

 

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Gutierrez

So we decided at the wedding since there were so many of us taking pictures besides the main photographer that we would have a contest for the best and worst pictures of the day.   Actually Noah and I may have been the only ones that decided on this contest but all of you feel free.  I am just going to get down to it.

This was one of my favorites so of course it makes my best list.

Jonas and Gabe begged me to take them to the big hill to roll down.  It reminded me of when Ben and Noah did the same thing at A. A and Maurie's wedding.  Except there were no issues with pants falling down like Noah's did that day.  This was my best action shot of the day.

The weather was so beautiful.  Look at that blue sky.  For the colors this makes my best list.

I like this one because I acutally was able to catch both of the girlies faces.  I seem to have taken a lot of pictures of the kids.  They all looked so sweet.

There is nothing like some Apple Jacks for a little pre-wedding snack.

This one makes the list because she is such a cute sister of the bride.

This one made the best list but I do see a hint of Oreo residue in her teeth. 

I have decided I will not have a worst category but just not my best category.  Looks like she was having some veil issues.  Not my best picture of the day.  I left it up to Morgan to get the professional shots.

Note to self,  don't take pictures of little girls eating Oreos.

My timing was all off on this one.  Actually I was trying to get a picture of her funny hair. 

I think Hannah actually took this picture so I can't take credit for this one.

Lily is making a scary face.  Essie looks like she's eating something disgusting.  Of course it is the Oreos again. 

It was such a fun day and went so smoothly at least I thought so.  I am so happy for Miranda and Aldo.  They are both amazing people and I am so glad they found each other and that I got to see them married in the temple today with family all around. 

what a cute couple.