Ready to Depart

Because it is seldom that we get to see my family, especially my brother Richard, we decided that we should take some photos before we left for back home.

I don’t know how to feel about this photo, but it was suggested by my brother Michael that I turn sideways to prove that I was in fact pregnant….I also am terribly pale compared to everyone else.  Also, it looks like Christian is trying to give Vivian smile insurance.

This one is cute of the kids with their grandpa and grandma.

Haha.  This one with uncle Mike always makes me laugh.

And here’s them with uncle Richard.

We had to stop by and visit with my fabulous friend Charisse and her cute kids.

Thanksgiving 2012

This year, not only we came for Thanksgiving, my brother Richard flew up from Atlanta to have Thanksgiving in Salt Lake too.  My aunt Annette’s mother-in-law passed away that week so she and her family joined my dad’s family for the meal.  Here’s a photo of my dad with his youngest sibling.  There is a family resemblance.

My brother Eric also came with his family. Here is a photo I go of his two darling bashful children as they played with my mom’s Thanksgiving Little People set.

Here is my niece Sandy waiting patiently for her dinner…the table was set a long time before dinner was served which made it a little harder to wait for some of us. ;)

My brother Bill was helpful with his turkey carving expertise…

Here’s a cute photo of my youngest siblings, my cute younger (and single) brother Michael, and my sister Julie.

Vivian was very excited to drink her yummy cider (I think Jared was trying to keep her calm).

Christian was very excited to sit by his cousin Mikey from California who he sees very rarely.

After dinner, the kids (especially Vivian) were happy to color in grandma’s coloring books.We also celebrated my brother Bill’s and my brother Eric’s birthday’s which were that month.  I think it’s cute that they each have a daddy’s girl who wants to be right by them.

After dinner, we stopped by Jared’s parents’ home to visit for a bit.  Jared’s sister Annalisa and her Husband Chris and their two kids were there.  Sadly, I took a bunch of photos that were in the wrong mode (because my brother and Jared were playing with my camera before we came over) so this is the only one that turned out.

We had a really fun time playing with them especially this funny German game where you have to go across the room impersonating something.  We stayed for such a long time that when we got back we had two very tired children. But it was a beautiful day to spend with family.  We are so very thankful for the fabulous family and friends that we are so blessed to have. It also was a great blessing that we could come to be with family for Thanksgiving this year.

Downtown Salt Lake

While we were visiting, we decided it would be really nice to take the kids downtown and check out City Creek Mall (that all the Utahans had been raving about) as well as the Temple.

My favorite store was the huge Deseret Book that is now their flagship store.  So nice.  I could be lost for days in there…it was hours as it was and it was because the kids would not leave the children’s section and their little chairs and books.  We finally bribed our kids into leaving by the promise of a treat…a chocolate truffle.  When we got outside I thought I should try to take a photo or two of the kids to remember our trip.  Vivian was happy to pose for a photo or two…yes, that is chocolate on her lips. We were really blessed because Aunt Megan had loaned us a warm coat for Vivian so she didn’t freeze.  Christian was so excited about the fountain I could only get him in one photo holding still.

To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t too incredibly impressed with city creek…I guess it’s because I’m spoiled and there are many similar malls in Phoenix.  We did stop by and visit Santa and Mrs. Claus while we were there though we didn’t buy their photo….we thought we’d try that at home.  This is a photo of the kids waiting to go see the famous couple.

It was really nice to walk past the Salt Lake Temple.  It always brings back so many memories for me.  My dad working in the church office building when I was a child, Christmas visits, concerts at the assembly hall, conference, weddings, when I worked downtown and passed it everyday, my own marriage, cleaning in it…the list goes on and on.  It may seem silly, but in a way being near the Salt Lake Temple makes me really feel secure in a way.  So much changes all the time—including my perception of places that were once familiar that it makes me feel kind of uneasy to visit family in Salt Lake.  I am happy that the temple is a constant.

 

Here’s a photo of my cue husband with the kids.

Jared took the camera and took a photo of me stuffed into my coat…be kind and remember that I am seven months along in this photo (I was lucky I could close my coat because I was COLD).

We were hoping to come back one of the days for the lights, but we weren’t sure that they would be on and then we had too many people to visit. So this was the extent of our down-town adventures.

Cousin Fun

When we were up in Salt Lake for the week of Thanksgiving we were really excited to be able to spend some time with my Sister-in-law Megan and her girls.  We went to Tracy Aviary with them and liberty park as well as visit them at their house a couple of times I got too caught up in visiting after the Aviary so sadly, those are the only photos I have of the kids.  It was really nice to be with them and have the kids get to know each other a little better.

 

I love these photos of Vivian in her tiny cuteness.

They had some cute cut-outs for photos at the Aviary.  Vivian and Christian look pretty concerned about being eaten…Jared is looking suspiciously like he is the one who fed the children to the pelican.

Abby and Sandy look excited to be swallowed!

 

This one of the girls as birds just cracks me up—their little faces are so cute!

Okay, does Jared not look like a scary bad guy in this photo?  He decided he wasn’t going to shave until he went back to work and with those glasses it’s a little frightening.

This one is cute of my little 26 lbs. girl.  How I love being her mom.  She’s so funny and feisty.

The next two photos crack me up.  There was a sort of twirling toy at the entrance/exit of the Aviary that reminds me of a tall version of the old fashioned carousals that used to be in playgrounds that they took out because kids would get hurt.  At first Christian hopped on for a ride and all the girls were pushing him and then about five kids jumped on and Vivian was happy to push them all (thank goodness for inertia or this never would have been fun for any of them).

Thanks Megan, Sandy and Abby!  We had so much fun hanging out with you guys.  It makes us wish we could live closer.

What I miss…

The thing I miss the most about living away from Utah is Fall.  I love the smell, the crisp cool air, the fact that you can wear cozy sweaters, and most especially, the angle and subtle cheerfulness of the light in Fall.  When we finally arrived in Salt Lake on November 19, Christian was very happy to play outside and really enjoy the fabulous weather outside….as well as making piles of leaves that he could jump into.

I love how much he was reveling in all the leaves.  Vivian was much more interested in playing with the toys at Grandma’s house than to be bothered with outside.  Jared and I enjoyed the weather outside too and pick apples off of my mom’s two apple trees.  It was nice to have a taste of Fall this year.

Over the river and through the woods… to Dayna’s house we go!

On November 19, we drove up to Cedar City to visit my dear friend Dayna on our way to SLC.  She and her husband Jeff were sweet enough to put us up for the night so that we could A. See them and B. save a little green instead of going to a motel.  I absolutely love their cozy little house with it’s darling features such as the arched doorways and  fun trim around the entire house.The kids couldn’t remember her (which breaks my heart) but they soon fell back in love with her and Vivian had fun bugging Jeff and flirting with him too.

We didn’t have too much time to visit, but we had some pie and had a good little chat that night as we looked at a couple of albums together too.

Dayna had to leave for work that morning so I nabbed her for a photo before she left (and no, I hadn’t had time to get ready yet, please also keep in mind that I’m 30-something weeks pregnant in this photo too).

Thanks Dayna and Jeff for your hospitality!

Give Thanks for Music

On November 17, 2012 we had another music recital… There were 15 students who preformed 4 violin students and 12 piano (one student takes both with me).  Here are a few photos taken by Sylvia.  This recital was a little different than others because no only did they get their composer statuette, they also had the opportunity to earn a trophy for having a certain amount of practice per week (I also made them put in a certain amount of practice to continue with me for the next “season”).  Happily, I had 4 students who earned a trophy so that was exciting.

I also had made these pendants for my all my students as a little gift from me (the boys got similar tie tacks).  I think they liked them…I see some of them wearing them once in a while.

This isn’t my photo, but Jared and I constructed a ribbon sandwich that used pumpernickel on the top to make it look like piano keys—it got eaten before I remembered to take a photo dang it!  It was cute though. 

I really enjoyed this season’s recital.  The kids that I have been blessed to have in my program have progressed nicely and some of them amazingly (for some reason I could make a direct correlation between their practice time logged and their progression made. huh.)  It’s really fun to teach these kids and I’m excited to see how they will continue to progress.