Off to School we Go

I miss them already...

{Livi 4th grade}

{Anna 2nd grade}

(Just for fun you can mouse over the pictures and see how they looked the first day of kindergarten. Oh they grow up fast!)

Valentine's Day

A few photos from today...including one showing Anna's new smile.

Snip Snip

Anna's curls are no more...at least as long as Mommy continues to blow dry her hair and use a round brush. Aunt Kati came over after work the other day and gave Anna her first "real" haircut in a while. I say "real" because Anna took some scissors to her own hair a couple of weeks back and "trimmed" a little off the back. Anyway, it's kind of a new look for Anna, and it's kind of fun for a change. Thanks to Kati for doing it, and we'll trade hair cuts for dinners anytime you want. In fact, you can just eat dinner without cutting anyone's hair anytime you want...

The Random Late Halloween Post

Yeah...This post is only two weeks late. But as Livi says: "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit!"

Pictures with Anna

Instead of having the kids all get "school pictures" this year, we thought we'd try a little something new. We have a nice camera, and decent picture software on our computer, so we figured we could take our own pictures and see how we do. If it doesn't work out, we can always go back for boring ol' school pictures again next year.

Anna was our first test subject (due in large part to the fact that she's the only one who had a clean outfit this morning). So after Mommy got her all prettied up, Anna and I went out for an hour around the town taking pictures. Here are a few that I've played around with so far:

Nicknames

I had some fun yesterday trying to think of all the nicknames that we use for our kids. This doesn't count names that we call them occasionally (like "munchkin," "monkey," and a few that aren't fit to print). These were just the regular names that we use a lot at our house.

Olivia's Nicknames
Livi
Liv
Lou
Louis
Lucious
And no, no one calls her "Liver" anymore except Uncle Jeremy...

Anna's Nicknames
Ann
Nan
Animal
My Anna

Jarom's Nicknames
Jare
Jare-boy
Jare-bear (ugh)
And just "boy", which I suppose is the benefit of being the only boy in the the family...

Yuba Lake

We had our annual family summer trip last week. We went to Yuba Lake (again) down in Central Utah for a few days of swimming, boating, playing games, and getting rained on. We had a really, really good storm Friday afternoon, flooding the beach. Half of the family was out on the boat, and most everyone else hid out in Grandma's trailer. Tricia and I just stayed in the tent with Jarom. We got a little water seeping through the bottom of the tent, but once again, the tent was perfect for the bad weather.

Anyway, other than a few sunburns, we had a great weekend, and can't wait for next year's trip (wherever we end up going). On to the pictures!

Summer Reprised

With school looming on the horizon (for Livi, anyway) we're starting to wrap up our summer activities. The family trip to Yuba this weekend will be our last big hurrah, and then it's back to the grind. Looking back over the summer, there are two things that are really memorable: fireworks and water fun.

We live just south of Thanksgiving Pointe, which seems to be Utah Valley's destination for fireworks displays. Whether it's the 4th or 24th of July, company parties, various festivals, or even the county fair, it seems like we get two or three good fireworks shows every month during the summer. Most of the time, we get a great view while just sitting on our front porch. The girls have stayed up later than normal on more than one occasion this summer, "oooohing" and "aaaahing" at the light show overhead.

As for the water fun, we spent plenty of time getting wet this summer. From weekly "swimming night" at the Lehi Legacy Center, to pool parties at Grandmas' houses, ward parties, and just running through sprinklers, there were lots and lots of hot days that just begged for some nice cool water. So, without further rambling, we'll pass you off to the pictures!

Look out below!!!

So this is Anna the night she decided that diving off the couch would be a good idea. Unfortunately, she must not have noticed the coffee table in between her and the floor. We were over at Grandma's house, and put ice on it as soon as we could, but we knew it was going to be a nice black eye.

We thought it looked pretty bad that night, but it got lots worse. Picture #2 here is from about a week later. Ouch. It looked at least this good for probably a good two weeks, and we were afraid to take her out in public for fear of being reported to Child Protective Services. Well not really, but it looked about that bad.

And this is her about a month after the little accident. You can still see a little 'shadow' under her eye, and if you feel her cheek, you might notice a little bump, but overall, she's back to her lovely little self. A little lesson for all of us about the dangers of going to Grandma's house. Just kidding. Just don't go jumping off any couches head-first...

Nuts is for Squirrels

We were at grandma's house a few days ago. Nothing unusual, we like to visit there frequently. Grandpa likes nuts, and had a bowl of them sitting out. Most people were helping themselves, everyone except Anna. Grandma, noticing that Anna wasn't getting any snacks, asked her if she wanted some? Anna's response: "No, nuts is for squirrels."

House of Giggles

Our home is a house of giggles.

Livi began her nightly prayers as usual, blessing all her loved ones and asking for help to be good. She reached the part of her prayer where she began to bless her Uncle Nathan who is serving a LDS mission in Brazil.

"Bless Uncle Nate in Brazil, that he may be healthy and strong. Help him to serve well and to learn porkajeez . . . porgadeese . . . porjajeeze . . . porjakeez . . . porkageese . . . pordajeeze . . . "

By the third or fourth attempt at saying Portuguese, the once quiet and reverent tone of the girl's bedroom was beginning to be disrupted by Matt's attempts to stifle his laughter. Tricia, coming into the room at about the third attempt quickly dodged into the other bedroom as to not become a distraction with her giggling. Livi, the trooper, tried and tried to say Portuguese a task she has been completing nightly for the four months Nate has been in Brazil. Finally when Anna began to giggle she had to stop and giggle for a minute too.

After calming down somewhat and practicing the right way to say "Portuguese", Papa told her to finish her prayer.

"Bless Uncle Nate in Brazil, that he may be healthy and strong. Help him to serve well and to learn . . . porkajeez . . . porkageese . . . porajeeze . . . . . . "