Thanksgiving

It looks like we are about ready. 13 of us ate in one room at my sisters house. The placemats were made by her family. They had real fall leaves between sheets of wax paper. They were so cute and the kids were so proud.

They made the cutest centerpieces! (yes, they deserve exclamation points)

This is the group minus the hosts. Interesting group. I usually host but was feeling a little overwhelmed so a couple of months ago I volunteered to bring food to anyone elses house and not host. It was an "off" year for my bro-in-laws family so we had his Dad and younger, single siblings, my parents, my two sons, me and my husband, D along with J and DH (hosts) and their kids.

Sweet little E managed to take out her pony tail but was cute never-the-less and headed to bed before dinner making dinner itself less stressful for J.

Cool dude, R was excited to have so many guests and yes, my Mom really does have a Thanksgiving apron.



Grandpa B managed to get little E in a snuggly mood and danced around the kitchen with her. This is a bad back-lit picture but it was the only one that showed both their faces. So sweet.

T and R get plenty of attention from their Aunt and Uncle.

Oops, this was not Thanksgiving. This was Saturday when R popped in to see Grandpa and he got out the new toy he bought. We aren't sure who likes it best but baby E seemed to really enjoy it. I was at work but they did come see me too. I was disappointed to have to work so much around the Holiday but expect to get a little more time after Christmas when I am planning a sisters get-together with....my sisters, of course!

Just pictures (to melt you heart)

Here's our little darling at 2 months in her blessing dress. So cute.

She was an m&m for Halloween and R and A were packages of m&m's, plain and peanut.

Here she is at four months. So much personality and expression.

We had family pictures done the end of September just before L left for London. The leaves had just started turning so we got the perfect blend of colors. I loved the background.

Ooooh, he's so handsome. don't worry, you will all get a Christmas card with the fam picture on it plus a couple of bonus picts.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Our house 2010

So L is gone. A month ago she was here, on her last group trip down Cataract Canyon with her other guide friends. A great farewell trip. This is where she is today, somewhere near Preston England in or around the MTC. In a few short hours she will be headed to London in a van with 10 other missionaries.
During that two weeks that she was home we had to finish her preparations and have a BIG farewell party following her opportunity to speak on a gospel subject prior to leaving on a mission. See previous post. On September 30 we had to get her to the airport to fly off to England:

So, in two weeks she went from a river guide to a missionary. BUT since she is gone and really has been for a couple of years, we've been doing some remodeling. First D took her room apart.

and where the door was supposed to go discovered a vent pipe from the bathroom downstairs which greatly complicated this project.

This is what the hallway looked like before demolition. Because of the pipe the door couldn't go directly into the front room so we had to sacrifice a major portion of our huge hall closet and make a diagonal facing door. D pulled up the carpet, laid hardwood, repainted, stained the floor and hung a new door.

We have very little decorating done but I love the colors.

This room is what one would have considered a conservatory. It has the piano, keyboard and guitar. It will have more seating and bookshelves.....eventually.

needs pictures. The perfect ones currently hang above our bed, they are moving.

So the house has more character now with our angled door next to our very small linen/hall closet.

But check out this beautiful rug! I was leaning toward a couple of plain ones when D spotted this. It matches perfectly and looks like it was woven with our bedroom pictures in mind.

AND, since we have been having family events at our house and usually do and never have enough comfortable seating:

We finally got a sectional in our front room. We replaced the Burgundy carpet but still need to replace the curtains. The furniture is not my favorite but after two years of looking, we were both satisfied enough that we are happy with it.

yeah, a super comfy chaise lounge.

Now there is room for all the teenagers that USED TO hang out at our house. It's still great for family gatherings so COME GATHER!

Sunday of Loved ones

Our daughter, L is going to England!Today was her "opportunity to speak on a gospel topic in Sacrament Meeting pryor to leaving on her mission" (farewell)

It was full of Friends (eating)

friends visiting

Baby E getting passed around and a happy Grandpa

and more friends from high school...

from church and the neighborhood...

and Moab (river)

and grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

It was a great day that was long awaited, well prepared for (could have been better) and much anticipated. We baked and prepared for days, most of the week even and figured around 50 people would show up. There were 72 at one count and that didn't get them all. We ran out of plates first, breakfast casserolle next and forks next. Thank goodness we have peaches and apples on the tree and continued to cut up fruit. It was so fun to hear L speak along with her friend and past Young Women leader, Shannon and to see everyone enjoying themselves and to visit with our family and friends. It will be a busy week to get her all ready to fly out on Thursday.

Thanks to everyone who came and supported us today. It's a parents payday!

Parents Pay Day

This is all about Baby E Check out that tongue. She loves it.

Today (Sunday) was her Blessing day.
She looked beautiful and was perfectly behaved.
Do I look so happy with my little Grandbaby?

R and I made the dress. G'ma Cherri made the bracelet which I was going to get a close-up of but forgot it. It matched perfectly.

R loves the "matchy" family photos. Aren't they cute?

Here is baby E, my girl, R, Me and My mom with her new hairdo.

(no I didn't do it. She "bought" it) I like it.

Four generations!
It was a great day!

What's in a name?

I've thought about and talked about names frequently as of late. Mostly because our grandaughter has a very unique name. It doesn't mean anything in particular but goes with the currently trendy names such as Kinsley and Ainsley. Her middle name is the combination of the two Grandmother's middle names Kay and Lynn, thus, KayLynn.
I also have a personal goal in life to let everyone know that Maggie is not meant to be a human name. Many people use it as a dog's name. So many, in fact, that to hear it now it goes quite well with Rover, Spot or even Daisy. A dog doesn't really mind the name so use it if you like it, BUT my name is close enough to Maggie I can tell you I have never liked the name and if you go through the whole alphabet there are many unkind things that rhyme with Maggie. Go ahead and try it. I'll wait....
B
H
F
S
R
N
Or go one step further and use two letters together.
Br
Sl
and a whole bunch of other nonsense words that just by their sound are unappealing.
'Nuff said. Friends don't let friends name people Maggie.
It kind of goes along with the return of the old-fashioned names. To that I say "whatever"
Now to the confusion of cross-gender names. You really don't know who (whom?) to expect when you see the names Tracy, Chris or Pat, male or female. If you see it written correctly you have a pretty good idea with names that have a different spelling like Erin or Aaron or Gene and Jean but what about names that used to be male names that have turned into female names like Morgan, Taylor or Devon.
That reminds me of a story. (go ahead, get a snack or a blanket or leave the blog, it's up to you) Last week we were visiting D's brother who has two little neighbor boys. They are both about 4 years old but one happens to be the uncle of the other. This little boys poor mother had a very late in lifer. D commented that they should have named him Isaac. (biblical reference, if you need to look it up.) And I suggested that I would use the name which ever gender it turned out to be and with the current name situation there should be a female spelling for Isaac so I racked my brain (or did I wrack my brain? it seems like it should be wrack. Hmmm) and came up with it
Izyk!
It sounds a lot nicer than it looks on paper but I would do it anyway.
What about your name. Do you like it? Is is appropriately feminine or masculine? What interesting names/spellings have you heard?

Feeling left Out?

I thought so.

So I uploaded more pictures of Baby E.

R,A and E spent last weekend here so Grandma could get up in the night and take care of the little angel while Mom and Dad got a couple of nights of uninterupted sleep. She is just as cute at 2 AM as she is during the day. (R might disagree).

Enjoy!