Family Time

These two photos were taken on Memorial Day in Pocatello at the Sutton's place, my Aunt Ruth and Uncle Tom. They have five boys, all of whom are married, all with children or expecting them, and living within an hour radius. As a result, Ruth and Tom have a permanent playroom and are well set-up for visitors with young kids. On Memorial Day they pull out all the stops for a barbecue, lots of ice cream, games, and even motorcycle rides around the property. Isaac thought he died and went to heaven; Linda just thought she was really cool. And Uncle Tom's looking rather Harrison Ford-esque, don't you think?


This picture below was also taken on Memorial Day with my mom's mom, Jean Nyberg, who also lives in Pocatello. She lived in my hometown while I was growing up, so I was lucky enough to always have a close relationship with her. She is a great lady, and I sure wish I saw her more often.



Labor Day, swimming at the hotel pool where my parents were staying when they came for Mary's baptism. Mary wasn't baptized in the pool...

After the baptism, Mary and I with my mom, Linda, and my Grandma Jean. I think Mary and Grandma have nearly the same expression!

Isaac's Christmas Program

The first grade classes put on a really cute program this year, devoted to their grandparents. They learned and sang over a dozen songs, so here is just a taste. When he found me in the crowd he spent the rest of the program waving and winking at me. He was awfully sweet. Grandmas and Grandpas, he has some gifts he'll be sending to you since you couldn't make it.

Random photos of the last few months

Here are some fun photos of my crazy children. Do you like Linda's new sense of fashion?

This is Linda with our neighbor, JT. He has a child development class at school, so he invited Linda to come for an hour last week for a special Christmas party. I don't think I've seen her so excited in a long time, and when I picked her up she had such a huge smile. One whole hour of undivided attention from one of her favorite people in the world, doing crafts and eating treats--sometimes I think she gets lost here at home being a middle child, and this was a good reminder for me to be a little more careful to spread my attention around.

Bath Dancing:


Isaac usually has his tongue out in photos, but he doesn't usually look so much like he's possessed......


Abby is firmly into the Adorable Stage, although she likes to pull the Christmas tree over, eat crayons, and climb on the kitchen table.




I feel bad that I don't have any photos of Mary, but she got her own post about the baptism, right? Usually she's at school, or reading Turkish on the couch, or sitting at her desk working on her book--a grammar of Egyptian hieroglyphics. You might think I'm kidding but I'm not. She also begs Dad to teach her calculus.

Halloween

Despite the trauma of choosing a costume, Mary finally settled on a BYU paleontologist, Isaac picked his dinosaur costume again, and Linda was a princess.


Mary is holding her paleontology brush and a styrofoam replica of a T-Rex tooth. Thanks Aunt Rachel, for the tooth and for the dino head on the cougar body.

Isaac decided his costume was too hot, so he took it off for the school parade. At least he carried it, eh? What a silly boy!


I think the mess on Abby's chin here is just some chocolate, I swear.



Linda has a wonderful preschool teacher who goes all out for everything. Here is the tail end of their Halloween parade and program: