Our trip to Utah

We thoroughly enjoyed going to Utah for a week before Thanksgiving. It was wonderful to see all of our family. You don't realize what you are missing until you are surrounded by lots of family, love and wonderful memories!

The Hog

This is the hog that all of my co-workers keep asking about. I like to think of it as my little pig. This is a picture of Lydia and me as we set off for our day's tasks. Lydia is a full-time student and I work a little. It takes about five minutes to get to Lydia's school and another 15 minutes to get to work. All in all it costs about $4 a week for gas and $10 a month for insurance. Plus, Lisa doesn't have to give me a ride to and from work. Much thanks to Mary and Brent and Brent's dad who made all of this possible, plus the people in my ward who helped me unload it. For anyone who comes to visit, I will give you a free ride around my cul-de-sac.

Our family quirks

Genevieve tagged me to expose our family quirks. We are supposed to share six quirky things for all to read. Here goes:
1. Aaron rides a scooter to work.
2. Lydia can read lots of words, and can sound out any tune to play on the piano.
3. It takes Hannah all day to watch a movie. She will watch part of it, and then rewind it to the beginning and start all over.
4. Jenny loves shoes. Whenever little kids come to our house and take their shoes off, they can't find them when it is time to go. They are usually on Jenny's feet. She also wears my shoes and Aaron's shoes.
5. Rachel loves to be outside. When the door opens, she starts crying and crawls as fast as she can towards the door. She is afraid that the door will get shut and she will be stuck inside.
6. I like to recycle. Everytime I go to the grocery store, I feel guilty by all of the plastic sacks I am using. I have made fabric bags to use instead, but I often forget them and leave them home. A corner of my garage is full of plastic sacks waiting to be taken to the recycle box at Walmart. The pile keeps getting larger and larger.

Hello...and Goodbye

We were so excited to see Elder Wright at the airport. Our visit wasn't for very long, but it was fun to see him. Spencer will be a great missionary. He was very excited to go. Jenny was a little bit confused. She thought that we got to bring Spencer home with us. Hopefully he has another layover on his way home so that we can see him again at the airport. Hannah wants to fly on a plane now...We will have to see what we can do!

Connected Music Video

Our girls love the new Barbie movie Diamond Castle. They sing the songs from it all day long. During their bath the other night they kept singing at the top of their lungs. After their bath, we decided to tape a music video for them.

First Steps!

Rachel started "walking" last weekend. These are videos of her first steps. She loves using her walker/stroller and goes all around the house. She does better off camera. I guess she is camera shy!

Gecko's anyone?

We don't see a lot of spiders in our house here. Instead, we get geckos! Call me crazy, but I would much rather have geckos than spiders. The only problem is that they are really fast. We try to catch them in a cup to take outside. However, sometimes they get detached body parts--if only they moved slower!

The temperature got down in the nineties, so we decided to go outside for some fun in the sun. We set up to pool areas--one for the older girls and one for Rachel. Somehow, all of the grass and the older girls got into Rachel's pool. Rachel didn't mind because she loves eating grass. As a mother, I know that I should condone that, but what can I say?

We had Amanda and Austin come visit us over the fourth of July. We had so much fun. It was wonderful to have family come to visit us. They were our first visitors to come just for fun. When we moved to Texas, my dad and Michelle came with me, but we didn't have any furniture. How fun is it to host people without any belongings--and how do you make the floor look enticing to eat, sleep and sit on all day long? Then my mom came when I had Rachel. We thouroughly enjoyed having her, but I wasn't able to do a whole lot. SO, this was our first "fun"visit where we could show off where we live. We hope that Amanda and Austin enjoyed it as much as us!

I've been tagged

Here is our Wedding story--(Genevieve, I am sorry it took so long!)

1. What is your anniversary

December 21, 2001

2. Where did you get married?

Mount Timpanogas Temple

3. Who proposed and how?

I used to pick up Aaron and take him to BYU in the mornings. So, one morning I went to pick him up. He asked to come in and I was a bit flustered, because usually he would just come out, I was running late, and hadn't finished my homework for my first class (I was going to have him drive and read my assignment in the car.). When I walked in the house, I heard some country music playing. I don't remember what it was, but I remember thinking that it was a good song. Then there was a camera on the piano, on automatic camera that went off. I thought that was weird. He asked me to sit down. I sat by some lovely flowers, a dozen white roses to be exact. I still had no clue that anything was going on, I just wanted to get going and get my assignment read. Then Aaron went down on his knee and asked me to marry him. Of course I said "yes!" Then we kissed and saw my future mother-in-law, sisters-in-law and two houseguests waiting in the next room to see what my answer would be. I was very surprised and later Aaron said that he was nervous because I looked mad at him. I wasn't mad, just surprised. I guess that I need to work on my facial expressions. So we left his house with roses and a ring and a smile on my face--not to school mind you, but to my house to share the exciting news.

You may wonder why in the morning before school? My mom was flying out to California and he wanted to ask me before she left. It was very sweet.

4. How long were you engaged?

We were engaged for 4 months. Aaron asked my dad's permission on 9/11 and proposed two days later.

5. What was your favorite part of the wedding day?

I think that for me, it was walking out of the temple knowing that Aaron was mine forever.

6. What would you change if you could?

Aaron had mono when we got married. It was really cold outside, so we weren't able to get many pictures at the temple. We did go back a year and a half later after Lydia was born. It was kind of fun to get dressed up again to get pictures. We went on a Monday, so no one would see us, but we still got caught. Anyway, we know have pictures of us at the temple in wedding attire in the summer with a baby. Kind of messed up, but still fun!

7. What were your colors?

Light blue, navy blue, and silver. It may sound weird, but I liked it!

8. Do you remember anything special from your ceremony? Any good advice? Anything comical?

My great uncle Benton sealed us--so that was neat. I don't remember all of the details, but I think that our guests were waiting for us to come in. Aaron's dad said a joke about letting one of our friends stand in as proxy for Aaron since he was sick. I didn't think it was very funny--what if it didn't work right, and I got married to the wrong person!

9. Were you clean or messy for your wedding cake?

We didn't even cut it because Aaron wasn't feeling top-notch. I made my mom spend all that money on a cake, and then didn't even cut it. However, we did find the top in my mom's freezer this summer when we were visiting. We pulled it out about seven years late and cut it then.

10. Where did you go on your honeymoon?

We celebrated our honeymoon in our new basement apartment!

11. How long have you been married?

Aaron says, "Since December 21, 2001. Who's counting, can't you just enjoy it?" But really, we have been married for 7 years in December.

Lydia Alyse

Hannah Elizabeth

Jenny Marie

Rachel Daun

Our Family

I wanted to get a family picture of our family with Rachel. Hannah was sick with the flu, but she was a good sport, and let us gather around her for the picture.