wrapping up + provo....

Wrapping up our family trip...

Here we all circa 1983, right mom? We lived in Bountiful and I loved the rose on the front of that dress. My mom saved it for me. 3, 6, 8, 10. Can that really be that long ago? Passing time is such a strange thing. But here we all are still and for that I'm thankful.

There is a story about this pictures...I think it has to do with my mom being slightly ticked

by the time we got there and the camera guy with a stuffed animal. Right, mom?

Provo!

There is a particular little person in our household who consistently ( CONSISTENTLY) asked when we were going to Provo. Two reasons: Lucy and snow. It didn't help that Dad said we would sometime. Lest you doubt, this little one is NOT to be distracted! Give up?....

And here she is wearing my very first skirt I've ever made her!

(Can I get a whoop, whoop???)

With yellow pockets and a pattern I made by copying a skirt she has.

Can I tell you I love it? (And yes, I do realize I'm the only one but there is seriously something to be said about sewing!)

Ah...little girl! I do love you so.

So of course when the opportunity came we couldn't pass it up. Girls trip to Provo!

And the SNOW!!!

(It didn't matter to her that it was the only patch I could find...wet and dirty but SNOW!)

And of course LUCY!!!

Who let her borrow boots, too!

Little girls...I love them!

And baby Spencer...I cannot get enough of you baby!

But we came for Wes's Birthday! So glad we did!

Thanks for letting us come!

I love you guys!

Family...isn't it about time?

Why yes it is! And thanks to Mark (and Maria) their gift to my parents for Christmas was (planning and making sure it happened) a family trip. So in Mike and Wes flew and off we went minus Zach for the first few days.

We had the best time! Eating, walking, and of course bike riding. It was sweet and I lost the bike ride pics on my card...so sad. My parents can still totally rock it.
Zach flew in and we went to Laguna to check out some tide pools. Did I tell you we're moving? Yep, California here we come! You can kind of see our house on the hillside just below....


After some serious scaling off the mountain Mark came across this little thing.
If you look really close you can see that little guy come out...it was so cool. Mark wanted to keep it. :)

After Mark slipped and fell in (I only laughed when I made sure he wasn't hurt :) he really was graceful) we went to the temple. Then we drove by the house my dad grew up in quickly since the owners thought we were stalkers.
We had so much Balderdash fun. It was such a great trip! Why has it taken us so long??? Thank you so much Mark for everything and all the spouses that stayed home so we could all go. Looks like we've got ourselves a new tradition. I love you all!

thelongestpostever . . .

I just got back in town (from the best siblings + parents weekend getaway) and know myself well enough that if I don't get these posted they won't ever be. Kind of like my New Year cards I printed and have sitting on my counter to send but won't because I've past the acceptable sending time frame. (Or am I just that lazy?) Anyway, this is our December as documented through still frames.

Here we are decorating our sweet tree. Just picture five feet of actual tree and one and a half feet of fake trunk and you've got the idea. Awesome. I vowed to do a real tree this year but our lazy selves caved to my kids wanted to put the tree up the Sunday we got back from Thanksgiving. In the end it actually grew on us and I stopped mocking it every time I saw it.

Our family Santa outing at Town Square. We dropped off the Grey boy at my parents and took off. And just like last year the line was way too long and the kids had other plans (merry-go-round, bridge races) to want to wait. So we saw him, made our peace, and once again took off. It was so fun!

Christmas Eve was at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We just had the added advantage of having Joe's parents there too. They spent the Holiday with us and it was wonderful!

Christmas morning brought Grandma Wirth waking us up at 7:30ish? (For some reason Christmas morning has been a sleep in morning at our house.) And Santa did deliver!

We stopped by to visit our dear friends Al and Judy. They are basically family and my kids think they have three sets of grandparents.

The day after Christmas brought my cousin's party in Gunlock at the city hall. (Is that what it's called now?)

So much fun!

I love this last picture of the group. We had a million cameras on timer and made the run back to the group a ton of times. This is my best one. And that would be Bronson's bum smack dab. (I have since set my timer with a little more time:) And I can't not mention my darling mom and aunts!

On our way back to home we stopped by Grandma Wirth's to visit her candy shop. Which some kids totally ate all her stuff. (I'm not claiming them!)

It was such a great holiday! Joe and I have decided that the week between Christmas and New Years should be a mandatory vacation!

Phew...now I'm done with 2009. I'm already a few posts behind for 2010. Wish me luck once again!

2009 ramblings...

Shall I make a list? Okay.

(In random order of significance.)

1. Thanks you for the birthday shout-outs!!! Facebook really does make you feel special on your birthday. And Joe (who has never ever posted in his life) totally surprised me on this here blog. It was a fun birthday!

2. Top Chef Las Vegas. Any takers on that? I had grown tired of this show but was taken in by the brothers. I thought I recognized them from Vegas (because I think I recognize everyone) and was soon sold on how awesome this season was going to be. Those three finalists were all amazing!

3. Friday Night Lights. I won season one and couldn't force myself to watch it. That is until I told Kristen about my dilemma and she promptly text me to WATCH IT one night. So I did and three full seasons and one week later I was officially obsessed. Sad and true.

4. I've exercised regularly since March. Cardio and resistance. Followed my routines faithfully. Felt great. This was a first for me in my entire life. Thing is, I haven't done anything since Thanksgiving morning and I kinda like it. Other than the fact that I never have any energy and never get ready since I don't have to wash the nasty gym off, I'm loving it. And I'm NOT starving at eight in the morning anymore. It's pretty sweet.

5. Grey's favorite songs to sing are: 1. Who let the Dogs Out? 2. Wonder Pets theme song. 3. ABCs. One day we were driving in the car and Grey happened to be freaking out when all of the sudden KMPR played a clip of Who Let The Dogs Out. Grey froze and started barking and that's when I realized all that singing had not gone to waste.

6. Speaking of Grey . . . he did fall out of his pack'n'play before I took the bassinet part out and slept all night on the floor. How's that for awesome parents. We had no clue.

7. At Legoland this year Kate would ride even the scary rides thus forcing to Truman to do so. It was so funny. Truman was not pleased with the situation but complied to avoid wimping out to his sister!

8. My two best friends had babies two days apart! Hazel on Christmas Eve and baby boy the day after Christmas! Wish I could meet them both!

9. Joe got me a sewing machine for Christmas! Total surprise! Not that I hadn't asked for it . . .I broke mine in the process of reupholstering my couch. But surprised I was. So I guess it's time to learn how to sew for reals this time!

10. I actually hung things on my wall this month. CRAZY! It's only taken me 13 months to do so. Now it's upstairs time . . . I'm shaking up the bedroom situation and going to get things done! (It's a new year so I can say that stuff, right?)

11. I'm the WORST commenter ever no thanks to Google Reader. And for that I am sorry. I'm a slave to it! (You should be too.) But it makes me sad that I am lazy and don't click out of it to comment . . . just know I do in my head. And I've come to embrace the fact that I really do love this blogging world! It's such a connector and I love it!

Well I've got holiday pictures to post, New Years cards to send, and walls to paint. Wish me luck!

A VERY MERRY REAL BIRTHDAY, FOR WHO? FOR SUZE!!!

SUZY HAS OFFICIALLY TURNED 32!

And as her husband, who's spent 8 or 9 of those years at her side, I feel I'm in a pretty solid position to offer some objective opinions about how friggin' awesome she is! (can you say "friggin'" on these blogs? First post.)  

But rather than ooze on an on about how great she is like those newlyweds used to do in our first BYU married ward (eyes rolling), let me keep it short and simple by giving quick props to just two of the many things I love about my wife--her culinary acumen and her one-of-a-kind fun personality.

Just to help you understand her dedication to all things food--Suzy asks for cook books and kitchen appliances for Christmas and her Birthday and the best part is--she's sincere in her requests.  How sweet is that, especially for a "what's in it for me" guy, like myself.  She makes me (close your eyes during this part mom) NOT long for my mom's cooking, sorry mom. AND she cooks so well it's kind of taken the fun out of eating out at fancy restaurants.  Thank you Suzy for teaching me what "capers" were at 24 and how to eat stinky expensive cheese at 30.    

As for her personality, Suzy is not simply my comical equivalent or intellectual equal, she always seems to "one up" me, but in a good way--in a way where life never has a chance to get dull and the conversation is never boring.  Suzy is totally unique and is always game when fun's to be had.  And for that I love her. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUZY and I think I speak for all of us who know you well enough to read your blog that the world would not be as bright and wonderful without you.

HAPPY 32!!!