Joy of All Joys

Katelyn and Owen at adoption hearing
Proud mama and aunt

proud parents with Richard Owen

Sleep-overs are so much fun!

The Snow Queen lives here

She can't be far away

We didn't find her....maybe another day

Warming little feet by the fire...and, of course, with book in hand

Our Home At Christmas

Nutcrackers keep watch
Papa John enjoys reading by the tree

Papa John's Santa Claus collection

We love our nature tree
Welcome to our humble home

Happy Halloween!

Johnny, the cheese head, Lauren the vampire, and Gracie the fairy princess.
Mary, as Mary, and Owen as OwenQuick costume change for grandma and grandpa...Owen as a crab

Parker the pumpkin between the pumpkins before carving

the pirate king contemplating the slashing of the pumpkins

two really scary witches

Lily, the firefly

shouldn't I be up in the sky?

Lily isn't sure if she likes cleaning out the pumpkin.

We are now full-swing into falltime and family time together. We had only four little trick-or-treaters this year....maybe because of the swine flu pandemic, or maybe because kids don't go out much anymore....sad ....john and I watched "Young Frankenstein," our traditional stay-at-home activity...and then, thanks to Lisa and Josh's evite, we dropped in to their Halloween party and enjoyed visiting with family and friends. Thank you October! Hello November!

Lily Land

Welcome to Lily Land USA! (Also known as Rockville Md.) We had the delightful opportunity to fly across the country to visit Lily and her mom, dad, and bees, the middle of October. (Fall time is beautiful there.)Monica, Sara and Lizzy joined us for part of our stay....their highlight was SOYOUTHINKYOUCANDANCE...a live concert of the TV show...in Baltimore...

what an adorable, inqusitive, enthusiastic little face!

we watched Lily steal the show at her dance class...the grandma and aunts loved it

eating lunch on a cold and rainy day at Balducci's...greatest pizza ever...

oops, back to the dance class ....Lily was all business

another fun activity with the parachute
we spent Sunday afternoon in Baltimore at the "outer banks"...it was bitter cold...but Lily was all smiles....then Liz was off to see her kids after four days with her sisters...and mom
Bye,bye Lizzy, we will miss you...tell Ellie, Luke and Parker hi...

Now it's breakfast time before we are off to get a "poke" at the doctor's. Lily is not worried at all.

Amy's ebelskivers are delectible
My last happy memory of Lily, is her giving her Dog (and best sleeping friend) a poke before we are off to the clinic for Amy's checkup and Lily's poke....she soon discovered that the seasonal flu poke is not much fun....but....she recovered quickly in time to hear the baby's heartbeat inside Mommy's tummy!!!!

WHAT AN exciting time for all of us! Thank you Roberts for being such amazing hosts...We'll be back!

Our "Cheeky" Little Friend

Meet Cheeky, our new best friend. He scurries across the backyard fence, frantically carrying pinecones to some unknown location. He has been known to aim directly at John's head, and throw them down from atop the tree. He is busy, busy, busy tearing around all day with acorns also. (see next photo)

He jumps down off the fence onto our deck, then up into the flower pots. He then proceeds to tear out as much dirt as he can to make a hole or hiding place for his tasty acorns..(I think he knows something about the upcoming months). Even though he is noisy, pesty and does damage to our pots and John's head, we still think he is pretty cute. Where do squirrels go to keep warm in the winter?

The Utah Chamber Artists Entr'Acte night was a huge success! The gala event took place at Gardner Hall and we filled 15 tables with enthusiastic guests. The food was delicious and the program absolutely over the top! Monica sat at the desk in the Lowell M. Durham Lobby and welcomed everyone and told them where to sit. The Hall looked beautiful ! The tables were covered with ivory linen tablecloths. The centerpieces were so fun....5 different sized bottles filled with colored water; paint brushes leaning up against the bottles, and a single gerbera daisy with greens exploding out of a glass cylinder vase. The music was performed in usual fashion for such a professional group....every number was amazing! It was absolutely wonderful! If you haven't been to a concert, come!

Today has been a good sabbath day. It started out with a walk down to the cemetery (it really is very pleasant) It was about 7:35 a.m. and we noticed carpools of men driving by going south. Oh, oh, I think John forgot it was Stake Priesthood meeting. Oops! So, needless to say, we cut our Sunday stroll short, ran home, Dad hurried to get ready ( he was much more comfortable in his walking clothes) and beat it over to the stake house. Choir practice went very well this moning. I love my little choir people. There are maybe 6 very loyal members who I can count on to always support and actually act excited to be learning challenging stuff (for a ward choir). We have started practicing Christmas music (yes, that's right) and we are singing Tom's arrangement of "In The Bleak Midwinter", music by Gustov Holst (he wrote the Planets symphony), and the text is by Christina Rossetti. It is such a tender little carol, but everyone gets very chilled singing the words. It is a beautiful arrangement, the harmony very different and tough in places (thanks Tom), but it does make us work.
We are also working on "Good Christian Men Rejoice", and "Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella". I never thought I would be a choir director, but it is really fun. Dad would be so proud of me!

Lizzy brought her tribe to sacrament meeting today because Josh is out of town until Wednesday night. Our row was scattered with books, stickers, animal crackers, an airplane, dinosaurs and crayons. Parker was removed from the premises about three times because of outbursts (it must be that red hair!). We had a race home (Grandma driving, the kids and Grandpa running) Guess who won?

Tonight we drove up to Gardner Hall to take our homemade brownies to the UCA. Tomorrow night is the fundraising dinner. It should be fabulous - good food, good company and top notch entertainment....we are taking the Whitings, the Lloyds, Pamela Atkinson, Sara and Monica as our guests.

We are now at home. Whew! The night is drawing on and the sunset is stunning! I love autumn...it has to be my favorite season of all. Goodnight

First-time blogger...that's suz!

I can't believe I am doing this! And I'm certain my children are fainting right now. But let's give it a try...Hello and welcome to our life. It is Saturday night, September 26, and Lizzie, Ellie and Parker are hanging out at our house. The Utes are playing Louieville and killing them - The score, right now is 27 to 7....Go Utes....oh, John just reminded me that it is not over....We have had a fun day....a walk in the forest, a drive up to Centerville to Johnny and Lauren's piano recital, dinner on the deck with fun kids and Lizzie and then lots of instruction from Lizzie about setting up this blog!!! Time for kids to go home...sooo, I will sign off for now....hey, this could be pretty fun....we shall see .... comment if you would like...let me see who cares....thank you and good bye.

Welcome

We are bloggers!