On second thought, let's just call each other and email pictures when we have them. This blog will still be here for those of you who would like to post to it.
Love to all of you,
Karen

regression

I am thinking about going back to the paper newsletter that we used to have. This blog is kind of dead. (But thanks to Mom and Linda for trying to revive it a bit).

Here's why I think a paper newsletter is a better format for our family to keep in touch:
-Gan can stay involved, since she has no computer
-deadlines were a good thing to keep updates coming from everyone
-my impression is that (almost) everyone in our family prefers to read from a tangible piece of paper rather than a monitor

One thing that we need to change is the frequency of the newsletter. I can't keep up with once a month anymore. I propose a quarterly or biannual (or triannual, what's the word for every four months?) newsletter. If you'd all like to take turns pestering each other for family updates, that would be just fine with me, too.
Let me know what you think about this change as well as other changes you would like to see.
Thanks and I love you guys,
Karen

About girl dogs and casting aspersions

Just a comment about Linda's story: Dad sometimes sings with an Irish accent, too.

When Rebekah was about 3 years old, she and Dad went for a walk around the block. When they returned home, Bekah said, "I saw a girl dog." I asked, "How do you know it was a girl?" She answered, "Because it had long hair!"

When Matt was only about 5, he ran upstairs to tell Dad that Linda had gotten into the fireplace to play. Dad asked, "Matthew, are you casting aspersions?" Matthew answered, "No, Dad. I didn't cast her in there; she got in herself!"

Today Bethany (just turned 3 last week) was running around the house singing over and over again, "I'm not a dog; I'm not a squirrel; I'm a girl."

A Little Family History

I just spoke to Gan this afternoon. She told me a story which I recall hearing before, but did not remember well enough to recount on my own. It's a fun story and I want to record it, and I thought the family blog might be a great place for it.

When Dad was young, he was called by his middle name, Waddy, after his uncle, instead of by his first name, Tom. When he was in second grade he came home from school after their Valentine's Day celebration and announced that he did not want to be called Waddy anymore. When asked why, he poured out his bag of Valentine's from his classmates and said, "Look!" There on the cards were written, "Wooley, Whitey, Wally, Wendy..." you name it. All sorts of names that started with 'W' but not one that said 'Waddy.' And ever since he has been 'Tom' instead.

Also amusing was that having an Irish teacher with a thick accent, he read with an Irish accent himself during the second grade.

If you have family history stories you can share, I'd love to see them posted here. I know we have lots of great stories, but whenever my children ask for one, I draw a blank. Please share your stories for all of us to enjoy!

Favorite Pictures

So I just commented on Karen's post and decided maybe I'll just post a few favorite pictures from the last few months. I hope I can figure out how this blog thing works (I had a hard time with the post I did last year).

Look what I can do! Chuck's sister, Cerah, showed me how to do this braid on Adaline back in June, but I thought I'd never be able to do it. Finally in August I tried and was successful. After the first time going out with this "do" Adaline loved the attention she got so much that she'll willingly try to sit still for her hair to be braided these days. I don't do it often, but it's a lot of fun when we do.

The kids were looking for ways to have fun while we were shoe shopping. I thought it made a cute picture. Just clowning around!

The kids planted and watered their own sunflowers this year with amazing results! We loved these enormous flowers. I had to measure them because I was so amazed- they were 11-12 feet tall!

I get the biggest kick out of Adaline's expression as she watched Chuck lick the drips off of her ice cream cone. We got homemade frozen custard from a local place after FHE one night.

I just love this picture because it's a classic. It's like the one on the book about motherhood that mom gave us a couple yers ago, but this was not staged.

Maybe I'm not as much of a ludite as I thought! That wasn't so hard after all!

Oh, how I love Conference weekend!

This blog has been abandoned for a long time, so I don't expect anyone will read this. But can I just say how much I love General Conference weekend? I mean, even with all of the kid noise and minor squabbling (ok, and some major squabbling). I love it. I love the leaders of our Church. When people say that they are "out of touch", I really have to wonder if they've ever heard them speak. And the choir sang "O Divine Redeemer" this time. Ah. It was good. It is worth watching TV for 4 hours each day of the weekend. Not many things are worth that.

Is Everyone Ready to Party?

I'm not sure if anyone is checking the family blog anymore, since we've all been such slackers about posting. But we're in the home stretch for the family reunion this weekend, and in the midst of all the laundry/packing/cleaning that needs to be done in order for us to leave town, I'd just like to share some of the enthusiasm that is running rampant at our house in anticipation of this great event.

Topher: "Is my friend (interpretation: cousin) Jacob going to be on the airplane?"

Mom: "Yes, he will be on the airplane once we get to Utah."

Topher: "Oh ye-eh-eh-eh-eh-ah!" (accompanied by fist pump)

Hope you are all as excited as we are!