End of 2017/Start of 2018

Time to (finally) blog a bit about Christmas!  It was a very busy and eventful couple of months, which was at once a bit frantic and a lot of fun.  There were the usual traditions (family musical soiree wherein I led a sing-along of Rutter's Angels' Carol, pajamas from Nana, more Santa excitement than ever, sooooo many treats, Christmas movies and shows, ward choir program, etc. etc. etc.) but there were lots of exciting new happenings too.  I'll just let the Instapictures tell the story.

Wherein I offer a 50% off commission sale and have a nice response!  See our art blog for a collage.

Wherein we go to the Christmas In Color drive-through light show!  Feliz Batty-Bat!

Wherein we go to the adult ward Christmas party and I sing Mele Kalikimaka/Christmas Island and wear my favorite shirt and hat (repeat picture post but it's relevant).

Wherein we brave the crowds of downtown SLC and have fun but decide never to to the Temple Square within a week of Christmas again.

Wherein we watch a Christmas classic and are forcibly reminded by Cindy Lou Who of a certain someone.

Wherein we go to the kids' ward Christmas party and it's our best roller skating outing yet. 

Wherein Wife and Baby come hear me sing Bach and Williams with the TSO.

Wherein my favorite Primary tradition continues for the 4th year!

Wherein I am amazed at how marvelous this movie is.

Wherein Little Mister and I are vest buddies on Christmas Eve.

Wherein we try out our new phone with a front-facing camera!

Wherein I try out my new at last running shoes.

Wherein I pose cheesily with my favorite Christmas present, which I call Coco.

Wherein we go to a merch pop-up of the Wizarding World of HP.  Almost like almost like the real thing!

Wherein this wasn't anywhere to be found in stores so we bought it ASAP (even though I know you can listen online... it's just nice to have).

Wherein we cling to the gingerbread feeling by finding any and all local light displays (this was at University Mall, er... Place).

Wherein the NYB pulls through yet again.

Wherein the kids are very fancy with their breakfast beverages.

Wherein The Wife figured out an ingenious way of getting the Christmas cards to stop falling off the front door every ten minutes -- take them off and hang them up somewhere else. 

Wherein The Boy Who Lived rings in the New Year on my desk at work.

Every time I have choir things coming up I have this underlying and ominous dread that something will happen the day before and I'll get really sick or lose my voice or whatever, but luckily another Christmas season has come and gone with much singing and no serious illness, so I think that's reason (for me at least) to rejoice.  It was a really lovely Christmas with lots going on and so much fun and going to church the day before was a perfect way to keep grounded amid all the festivities and remember the Point in the first place.  2018 is going to be just marvelous.

P.S. These days we get sleepy pretty early and one or both of us heads to bed shortly after the hour hits double digits, but this year I totally scored my NYE midnight kiss. ;*

Christmas 2017

It was pretty much as perfect as could be.

Details to come.

:D :D :D :D 8/

Back view!

Halloween 2017 -- Grrrreat? Grr-ific

Halloween!  It has come and gone, but not without being observed very much in our household especially by certain persons age 4 and under.  Without further ado, here's the Instaslideshow:

Either it's Halloween around here or I haven't played the piano in a LONG time.

Funtivity the 1st: Hee Haw Farms!  A huge hit as always.  I can't get over the corn box.

 

This isn't exactly Halloween-related, but having one sit and one push makes walking to church go a lot faster and easier.

Funtivity the 2nd: The Pumpkin Patch!  They've really upped their game this year (though the wait for the hayride was incredibly long, extended ride notwithstanding).

A perfect moment captured by The Wife.

Funtivity the 3rd: A nearby neighborhood party at Dowdle Farms with an art unveiling.  The Wife always manages to find the best local things to do.

Work party.  I must say the cereal bar was a stroke of genius. I made the poster but not the art.

I'm really amazed and annoyed we didn't even win third place (which would mean a prize of team breakfast -- what could have been more fitting?), even enlisting Auditing and Marketing.

Introducing the kids to a classic before heading out.

Halloween greetings from Daniel Tiger and his entourage.

Apparently I didn't do the bat or dragon or hissing cat quite to The Boy's desired specifications, but in my defense he didn't tell me until after.  I finally threw the remainder of these out today.

And there you have it!  We also went to sister Cami's really fun annual Halloween-themed Timpanogos Symphony Orchestra concert/costume parade, Elfman, Grieg, Mozart, Prokofiev, Williams, and a favorite from last year, Ghostbusters.  On the day of I had to rush off before too late to get to a rehearsal in SLC (more on that coming.....) but we had plenty of time to be together and do lots of fun things and trick-or-treat to the kids' hearts' content(s?), though they've largely forgotten about the candy by now, which is still in labeled bags.  I don't understand parents who take their kids trick-or-treating multiple times for hours on end and then complain that there's so much candy in their house.  What other results could you possibly expect???  Anyway.

8 Years!

Yesterday we celebrated our 8th anniversary!  I was at work of course but I was trying to decide what my wife would like most of all for an anniversary gift and I decided what she would probably want was time, so I arranged for my parents to pick up the two older kids and take them away for the morning, where they had a grand time playing with cousins (thanks again, Mom and Dad and Auntie Elise and cousins!), and then I came home a little early from work with flowers and so-so sushi from Walmart so that I could take over when they woke up from their naps so she had the rest of the afternoon free too, and then surprised her with this:

Still working on likenesses, but you get the idea.

Then we hired a really fun babysitter and took to La Jolla Groves for a delicious dinner with a little plus-one:

Such an adorable tagalong, and he didn't make a peep.

Then we went home and I sabotaged my own food dehydrator gift secret and then we shared some amazing cupcakes from the shop downtown and watched Psych until we couldn't make it through two episodes and crashed after a long and fun day.

The kids told us this morning that they want to get married (not to each other), and if that's not a ringing endorsement of how we're doing, I don't know what is!  It's wonderful to have a partner who's clever and lovely and takes care of so many things and makes me laugh.  All the love to my Juliet (as in O'Hara, not Capulet).

The real deal.  Smoldering back when it used to be called (yikes) smizing.

4! (And 3*)

(It's not that she's all ashamed of her age, it's just not my place to go splashing it around online and such.  I also realize I did something similar last year.  How old even are we?)

Quick, before it's June!  Um... before it's July?...

We had two more birthdays!  It's tricky how the kids' birthdays fall within just days of our own, but it does simplify things when you get behind on blogging about it, which, let's face it, is the most important thing (it is 2008, right?  People still blog?  Well, I do, now and then anyway).

So this year it was all a big to-do to get things sorted out because The Boy's birthday was actually on Sunday and The Wife's birthday was on Saturday but we wanted to have his party on Saturday, so then do we just switch completely this year?  But then when he goes to church will he be confused when we're like SHOUT HOORAY! and he's like, but it was yesterday??  And then does Julie not get presents on her actual day but then has to wait until HIS birthday and then HE doesn't get any on HIS actual day???  As you can see, it was a web of confusion.  So we ended up just kind of mashing them together -- fun cousins party on Saturday afternoon with delicious car cake, saved a few of his presents for the actual day and did our best to explain, then longsuffering Mommy was just patient and opened hers and had her amazing Lucky Charms marshmallows cake the next day.  It was a fun and busy weekend, but it might make things easier next year when the days are different, but who knows?  Anyway, here are some pictures!  Again in mashed-up style:

So much fun at his (first?) official birthday party!  The KSL sandbox was a huge hit, and the slide from Auntie Jellyfish was even bigger.

Leeeeeet's just get a better look at that amazing cake.

He bought Blaze with his very own birthday money!  I think he was pleased with his purchase.

Cute birthday girl.  I kind of dropped the ball this year, but I will make it up to you!

Leeeeet's just get a better look at that cake too...

And so, just like that our boy is 4.  For some reason this is an age I always remember my younger sisters being, so maybe there's something about this age.  Anyway, he's a great kid and amazes me all the time with how much he knows and retains and grows and loves and shouts.  Here's the Insta slideshow:

One day, Boy... One day.

Having so much fun at the carnival!  He's getting more fearless as time goes by, but he's still pretty cautious about certain things.

He loves Cousin Jack (and not just because of the cars he often so nicely brings) 

His faces!!!  So fun to visit Great-Grandma in Logan.

I kept these Atlantis figures in their boxes for yeeeeears after buying them cheap at the WDW Cast Member store, only to open them up so this guy could enjoy them.  Worth it.

Did I say he's still cautious?

Anything with wheels!

With wheels and lights?  Even better.

He often says cousin Link is his best friend.

Potty training was kind of a fiasco but The Wife (with help from Daniel Tiger) prevailed!  She is amazing, because thiiiiiis was pretty bad at first.

Going to work!

Dressing his friends for nap (which he only very occasionally takes anymore).

Super Boy!  Love those sidekicks.

This might have been the best thing ever for him so far.

Where did our baby boy go???

We wondered how he would do in Primary... and he did perfectly fine.  I wonder if it helps that I'm in there with him?  Or maybe hinders... Anyway, Kitty is the Primary mascot and usually sits on the piano, and he finally was "ready" and started singing a couple months ago...  Maybe one of these days he'll sing around the house or at bedtime with us.

Helping Mommy with her knitting.

Helping Daddy with the painting!  He's a good helper.

Life changed forever after experiencing Chuck E. Cheese's.

All tucked in for movie night!  We needed to rewatch the original Beauty and the Beast for reasons, and he's loved the books for months so it was time.

Neighbor Renner gave him a turn of his very own!  Again, the best thing ever... until it was time to get off.

A year later and his teeth are looking just great.  Amazing.

Taking a turn at Nana's watercolor station.  He's actually becoming quite the artist.

True to his Asian roots, he knows exactly how to use chopsticks (which of course Hmong people don't even use).

The arts!  The letters!  This boy.

There you have it!  Mostly these are for me/us to enjoy and look back and remember things but if you made it through hopefully you enjoyed it too.  Our boy has some real highs and lows in his toddler emotional roller coaster, but mostly highs, and he's even getting easier to reason with, which is refreshing, since Baby Girl seems to be going just the other way in some respects, ha.  He's handsome and clever and bright and loves life so much, it just makes me want to match his energy and joy and exuberance, which we do our best to do.  He's a great big brother and a good helper around the house and a delight in Primary.  His voice gets increasingly not only louder but also higher the more excited he gets, but I love how he uses words ("we goeded" "I learneded" "I playeded"). He loves visiting aunts and uncles and cousins and always wants to go to a "fun place" (wherever that is, usually anywhere will do) when I get home from work.

Until next time!  We love our boy.