a very merry christmas..

                                               Laie, Hawaii 2012

   
           LaVell Edwards stadium...there's no place like home

               turning Chelsie onto sea glass shelling

                

  

 

                                             and a great new year..

   Professional runners like Sue have their perfected running playlists.  Then there are those whose running  is so pure that they only need the slap of their footprint to keep them going.  Beautiful.

  But me ?  Each time I run I have to find my rhythm  for that day.  Some day it just clicks immediately. Mostly I have to go through many songs to get in my groove.  Ahhhh, but when I do find it..I am in heaven.

 It doesn't come as any surprise that my whole life runs on this practice. Except that the "days it clicks immediately" are Very rare.

 My sweet Dallin asked me to write down my conversion story. That he had  heard bits and pieces all his life , but never really the whole experience. Well - I thought , I have born my testimony enough times to easily crank this out on paper. And heaven knows I retell stories often enough..ha ( had to say that before you thought it !) Should be simple.

  I put on my music - because I always need a playlist going in my head. I put pen to paper and it started to flow. But I couldn't stop it, and I couldn't stop the tears. And it still kept coming, and the music selections were excellent. I told Dallin that it wasn't a pretty story because it had to include everything..but it was nirvana to me. It was cathartic to me.  Thank-you for asking Dallin, you always keep me on the right playlist :)

october 31st

                                   Jane could not have been more darling as Tinkerbell !!

                         Harrison kept the odd Haycock tradition of collecting as MUCH candy as possible. Went out with a huge group of deacons and beehives. Only "snowboarder" in the gang..we aren't in utah anymore !

                         Made our traditional spaghetti and eyeballs for dinner..somehow though, these look "friendly"...kind of like Elmo with blood shot eyes.  Still tasty :)

            Love this picture of peter pan ( NOT robin hood..as some mistakenly thought.)

              Poppy and Cooper dressed alike for daytime activities.   Happy guys these two.

            Kerriann went as kitty purry.  she even posed as a sleeping cat for me. a Good halloween !

Desmond makes our house a home :)

Painting the house "tahoe blue".  Well, I 'm not..we hired someone.  I'm excited.

Harrison is going to have thousands of " I had an old mum " stories.  This is the latest one.  The bear had to get braces..again.  Had them back in first grade, but knew there was going to be a second part.  I ask other (younger) mothers in the ward what orthodontist they go to. Whoa !!  There is an opener if you are ever at a loss at what to say in a conversation.  People Love to talk about their experiences with their childrens orthodontist.  Thats good, let them do the investigating.  I mean really ,What exactly do you ask a dentist during an "interview"....are you good ?   do you use mouthwash before you see a patient ?  are you creepy ?  These are just things you find out in your own good time.   So we went to one that everyone raved about.

"TEAM   ORTHODONTICS"...yeah, the name says it all.  Now I am not questioning the mans knowledge or ability,  he seems more than capable.  And the staff is quite friendly.  But the office personifies the name, and the whole idea of "TEAM" went into hyper drive. The attitude and mood is beyond ( way beyond ) cheerful, positive and spunky.  Saturday Night Live could easily create a sketch  on this place.   Don't get me wrong, braces serve their purpose and I am grateful that this orthodontist can pull off this service for Harrisons little mouth.  But people, dental work is Not cool, hip and happening.  It is not the happiest place on earth.  By the end of an hour long tour and sales pitch, I could no longer contain my snarky side.  I could see the fear in Harrisons eyes..Resist mom please !! The  word "team" had been said  - easily several dozen times during this hour.  

       " Tell me, do you all start the morning off with a team cheer ?!" 

She didn't laugh ( oh, we weren't with the doctor , we were with the team coordinator of course.) I looked around at the other moms who were being lead on their own tours with their own gawky young teen....and I do believe they were buying into this stepford practice.  It is going to be a  long 18 months for both Harrison and I !!

end of summer 2012

Wow...great summer ! 

Unfortunately it was over in the blink of an eye.

Denver took summer school.  Both Boys and Kevin went to scout camp during different weeks.

I was in a "wad" all of june over a medical test that Finally turned out just fine.  So we jammed in summertime in those seemingly few days in between.

Preston did a 180 and decided to LOVE the ocean.

Harrison grew his hair out and partied on.

My sweet garden in Alpine sat empty this year.  Sad to see..but nice to be back for the best time of the year in utah.

Went down to Newport Beach for Devin Ord's wedding. Fulfilled a dream of being one of the Ord girls :)

Preston wanted to celebrate his 5th birthday at Bennihanas.  What five year old wouldn't love that ?! It was yummy.

Kerriann's little friend Brooke got engaged ( and married this coming friday.) Weren't they just teeny,tiny girls ..always laughing ?  They seem ever so happy!!

Carolin and Cecilia Falkenberg came out from Germany to visit . It was fun to show them around. Can you believe this crowd actually did what I asked for, posing in this handcart picture ?! This was after the days of 47 parade.

Kerriann got new cowboy boots and they are darling on her.

We got in a lovely kayak  run up in the Tetons....ahhh.

Everyone Loved having Carolin back in town.  Caity was fetching a gorgeous tan !

Ok , we HAD to show the frauleins Hawaii.  Everybody was really good about fitting it into their schedules.  Mahalo. Must say that we did not feel complete without Porter, Bo and Brianna ( all who could not get work off on such short notice.)

Little Cooper was a Natural at surfing :)

When all else fails and the heat is just too much we ( or at least "some") of us eat cold watermelon in the buff !! 

Roadtrip 2012 was two roundtrips to utah,add on to Jackson Hole, the jaunt over to Orange County ( which oddly did not seem to make it onto my map) and including the nautical miles to and from and around Oahu.....a whooping total of 9,995 miles. Surely there was an additional 5 extra miles somewhere !!  No wonder I am pooped :)

running bear loves little white dove

        
                                                             Welcome  Desmond !!

                                            He took the exact same perch Mindy did..sweet.
                             Then in our bedroom iI have been putting my stash of favorite blue fabrics ( and I apparently have gone way overboard in the "someday I will do something with this yard" !!)  Well that someday has come, and I have been wrapping them around canvas.  It is definitely a work in progress. But I enjoy it.

                                              And these two cuties are coming down to visit this week.   Yea!!

                                              I put my collection of stickers on a spot on the kitchen wall because the car bumper isn't big enough and besides  I like to see them all the time.  Kevin is so patient with all my little things.  That is another fun thing about the arizona house, it isn't the "show-pony" that the alpine house is and I can do these - well, I dare not call them decorations - signatures where I want.  Porter just shakes his head :)

my growing keki

                We   LOVE our  Denver !!!  Ok, that is a mini skateboard..but still, you catch the vision.

                                Big sister Devin is Not crouching down at all.  We all look up to him :)