My mom's cousin, Anne, just sent me this pic last week that she found. I love it! Me and Momma Max riding a horse at the family reunion in Burley, ID. Probably summer of 1985. I would have just turned 3.

Anne said she can't believe how much Emri looks like me! Most of the time people say she's all Brett. I can see a little resemblance in comparison....what do you think??

Thanks for the picture Anne :)

New Years Eve 2010

To me, New Years Eve means hanging out with our favorite people, eating lots of crap food (for the "last time" before resolution time), playing lots of games, and getting a New Years kiss!! WE DID ALL OF THE ABOVE! The little babes got to bang pots and pans (well, pie tins really) around 7:30 before they went to sleep.

Emri and Sam making lots of noise! Emri was lovin it!

Then again around 10 (which Amanda always sets all the clocks to midnight so her bigger boys think it's time...genius) we go outside with the older kids to make some more noise...Amanda is always the ring leader! I love it!

After the kids were down we got a few "normal" pictures of the adults.

Jami, Rachel, Steph, Amanda, Krystal.

Dave, Josh, Brett, Brian, Dallin

I had to show you "NORMAL" first, because the following pictures are anything but that!!! We played a fun group charades game (I think it's called "Rollick"?)...we all look like fools, but these pics make me giggle! I think the first word we were trying to act out was

"black cat"

"superman" (wow, it's obvious why pregnant people shouldn't play this)!

"udders"....Amanda was really getting into it! :)

"White House".....not sure what's going on!

"tackle"

"Earthquake"....I love that Dave is heading for cover under the table! hahaha!

Thanks friends for the great night....and lots of laughs!!

Wildlights at the Zoo

The Columbus Zoo decorates everything in LED lights for Christmas. It had been soooo dang cold that we didn't have any desire to go out and wander through them (hence the previous posts about "drive-thru lights")! Finally, on New Years Eve day we welcomed a very strange day of 54 degree weather, so we took our chance!

We got there just before dark to take E to the polar bears, one of her favorites to see there.

Then wandered around a little once it got dark. There were a billion people there....probably because it was so "warm!" I forgot my tripod, so all the pics of the lights are blurry....

E trying to climb through the fence to get to the "kyiss-muss chee!"

There's a big pond/lake in the middle of the zoo. Most of the trees surrounding it were strung with lights and they flashed to the music playing. I'm glad we held out for a nice day!

More pics of New Year's Eve happenings to come....

Oh and go HERE for the yummy new Zuppa Toscana soup recipe (like Olive Garden's) I made last night. Even your husband will love it!

22 Months

I'm slacking at posting these on time, but I told myself I'd take the "chair pic" till she turns two....only 2 mos left! Well, then I guess it will be baby boy's turn and I'm sure E will appear in those too :) It's nearly impossible to get a good picture of the wiggly bug!

Emri seems so grown up to us lately!

• Shes putting more and more words together into "sentences," if you can call them that! It's really nice to have her communicate what she wants and feels to us. My favorite word she says right now is "bitey-wim"....go ahead...give it a guess? VITAMIN! I love it!
• With the cold she's had this past week and getting close to cutting her canine teeth we've had some crying at bedtime and through the night. ugh! She's NEVER had a hard time going to bed at night! Anyone else's child do this? I was asking the pharmacist the other day if there was anything I could give her to stop the coughing in the middle of the night?? She recommended Delsym, a very small amount, which has helped. And then she said "She's just preparing you for the baby!" Oh boy! Not really ready for the sleep deprivation just yet!
• She likes to pat my belly and say "baby bruddew;" now, if only she could tell us his name

What a little diva!

Tangled

We've been loving having Brett home during his break . We ventured out to the theater last week to see if Emri would sit through a movie. We went to see "Tangled" (which is darling, by the way)...and we actually saw the WHOLE thing! Emri loved the "BIG TV" (of course) and as long as she was snacking she was happy!

Her newest obsession is spinning till she's "deezy." She'll do it on her own, but prefers to have someone else's help (which always gets passed off to daddy)! Thank goodness I'm pregnant! :)