Family Portrait 2011

Just one to share. For now.

Shopping for My Kids

I get to use the word "KIDS" now. Plural. As in more than one!!!

And I'll tell you what, I'm having way too much fun and spending way too much money. 

Eep! 

Last week, I ordered *coordinating* Christmas outfits, from The Children's Place, for Brock and baby! These outfits are truly camera ready and my head is already spinning wildly with portrait ideas.
Here's why...

For Brock:

For Baby:

See what I mean? The Christmas dresses at the Children's Place are absolutely to-die-for cute, but seeing as Miss Rapunzel will only be a few weeks old, we'll stick to something infinitely more comfy than a froo-froo dress and tights. We're saving that outfit for next Christmas!


And I also ordered a coming-home outfit, for baby, that we may or may not use, after all there are still about 6 shopping weeks left until she makes her debut!
This velour sleeper is so soft and girly and tiny. I love it!

And while shopping for my KIDS, I spent way too much time pondering the perfect big brother shirt for Brock. I'm still undecided...

We're going to go broke just outfitting these children! *oi*
But the fun we'll have is clearly priceless!

The Same Old Question

Brock, are you excited about being a big brother?

NOT ONE DAY goes by when Brock is not confronted with the same old question regarding

his excitement level as it pertains to his baby sister. Sheepishly, I confess that even Clarke and I are guilty of asking the "same old question"of our 5-year old son.

Are you excited about becoming a big brother? 

Yeah.

What do you think we should name your sister? 

I'm thinking, Luna See. Luna is a nice name, mom. Or how about Twelvie? Or Ruby? 'Cause that's a great name. Daddy would like that. We could call her Rube.

What do new babies do? 

Cry and use binkies and use bottles. Except, we're going to need a lot of diapers, right? Because our baby is going to poop a lot. Well, I hope she's not a poopie baby.

What are you going to teach your baby sister? 

 I might teach her how to feed herself, that's one thing. How about, I could also teacher her how to stand up and walk a little bit and crawl? I want to teach her how to color, except she'll do a lot of scribbling.

Who do you think the new baby will look like? 

I think she would look like momma. With blond or blackish, brownish hair. 'Cause we are the blond family, right?

What's the first thing you're going to do when the baby comes home?

 I'm going to cover my ears with my hands because YEOW my ears will hurt. That's what I'm going to do, bring ear plugs. Because the baby will whaa, whaa, whaa, whaa, of course.

What are you going to get your sister for Christmas?

A big brother that loves her! 

Sometimes, Brock surprises us with his brother skills, as evidenced in the following image...

Last week he brought home from school 11 pictures he drew of himself and his baby sister, brandishing swords. Every picture features the same two characters and the same swords. Fortunately, they don't appear to be sword fighting each other! Whew!

On Monday, he wanted to color pictures for the door of the nursery and this is what he came up with:

Brock is going to rock big brotherhood!

"Sometimes being a big brother is even better than being a superhero." -Marc Brown

Catching Up

I miss my camera some days, but the necessary energy and drive to pull it out and start snapping away abandoned me sometime last spring. The few times I've actually taken it out--usually at the behest of family--I am admittedly sluggish about uploading the pictures. So, in homage to my summer of sluggishness, here is a plethora of what happened when my camera was present....

August: Sean's Homecoming

My littlest brother, Sean, served a 2-year LDS mission in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His homecoming was anticipated for weeks and when the afternoon finally arrived, my family gathered at the airport brimming with anticipation of what 2-years did to and for Sean.

Brock, Jamin & Travis were, respectively, only 3 years old and 1 year old when Sean left in 2009. They hardly remembered their uncle, but rallied in the excitement of the rest of us--waving their welcome home signs at every stranger who exited the terminal--in the hopes that one of them would be uncle Sean.

Impatient 5-year olds are rough on signs and by the time uncle Sean did arrive, our sign was falling to pieces. 

Miss Libby had never met her uncle before; nevertheless, she was easily the most patient of all the kids.

He promised to bring a cheese head home, and that is exactly what Sean did as he came running through the doors into the arms of his family...

Mom got the first hug. And deservedly so.

 Sean almost took down dad in his excitement to be home!

We are so proud of Sean for his dedication to missionary service, for his strong testimony and we're especially happy to have him home!

September: The National Gas Rodeo

Don't let the title fool you into thinking that we've embraced some sort of flatulence contest. Ew.

Nope, Clarke, as you recall, works for the local gas company as a technician. Every year, natural gas companies from across the country send their strongest teams to compete in a national test of technician skills (like setting a gas meter, digging and backhoe and dump truck challenges). This year, Clarke's team, Rapid Expansion, won the right to compete for Idaho, and traveled to St. Louis, MO to meet and compete against the best teams in the country!

Each team consisted of four members. This is what Rapid Expansion looks like:

They had a great opportunity to lunch at the Boise State Sky Box a few days before they left for the national competition. While there, they decided to pay a visit to the coaches offices, where they explained who they were and about the competition. The coaches office staff happily gifted them official Boise State helmet stickers to decorate their safety helmets for the competition!

 When arrangements were being made to send the Rapid Expansion teams and their wives to St. Louis, I had not been cleared to travel and we assumed I would not be able to travel. When I was cleared for travel, in August, it was too late to get on the same flights and even then, Delta wanted TWICE the amount for tickets. Um, no thanks. So, all the pictures from the competition and St. Louis are courtesy of Clarke, who diligently called home often to report how much fun he was having and how much fabulous food he was eating. Clarke's favorite part of the 4-day trip was the Gateway Arch.

View from the top of the arch, looking down...

He couldn't (and can't) stop talking about how much fun he had on his vacation! Next year, if his team wins the privilege of returning to St. Louis to compete once again, I'll go too. 

Late September: Papa's New Gig & Rig

There are a lot of smart, talented people out of work right now. After devoting most of his life to becoming a master carpenter and business owner, my dad found himself struggling these last few years to procure any little job he could to help bring in what used to be a substantial monthly income. With ZERO construction going on in the valley, pickings for skilled workmen were slim and my dad, or "papa" as we call him since he started going gray, had to make a career choice. He decided to study and earn his CDL and become a truck driver. Right now, he's hauling gravel to the oil fields in North Dakota. The night before he left, he brought home his brand new truck to show off to the family. The kids had a ball climbing all over it!

Travis...

Libby & Sean...

Brock

and Brock again...

Jamin...

Lovely Miss Libby and Nanay...

So, that's it, folks. I've emptied out my memory cards and they're fresh and ready to take on autumn. I hope I can find the energy and inspiration to exercise my shutter button in the next several weeks!