Let's Give Thanks

This past week has been quite overwhelming with news of both extremes. It's definitely led me to contemplate both our mortal and our eternal existence. I hope this coming holiday we all remember to give thanks to our Heavenly Father for his amazing gift of life.





Temporality

It's difficult and troubling
And wonderful and rich.
It's heartbreaking and uplifting
This grand and worldly gift.

Through laughter and through sorrow,
'Midst realms of this abyss,
Indeed we must remember
How beautiful life is.

I wrote this poem today for my sister. I love you, Noel!

Halloween: Here and Gone

What a fun Halloween we had this year! So many things happened I decided to post a slideshow for your viewing pleasure. Parties, Witches' night out, Trunk-or-Treat. It's all here!

How is it almost October?

Okay, so I slacked off in the blog department for the past, oh, 4 months! Quick recap--summer happened, now it's fall.

We celebrated a few birthdays, including Syler's 1st!!!











We squeezed in one great vacation in August. Disneyland, plus the beach, plus Palm Springs equals good times.







Syler had surgery on his neck as soon as we got back from vacation. The surgery went extremely well. Sy is doing great, but developed a strong aversion to doctors. We hope he'll grow out of that quickly. ;)

Finally, the kids made it back to school and we marked the occasion with family photos.




And that ends our exciting summer recap.

Stay tuned for (what I hope to be more frequent) updates coming soon...

The Amazing Gift of Music

A couple of my friends posted this on their blogs, so I listened/watched. While doing so, I realized how grateful I am for the gift of music. There is no surer way of capturing such a myriad of emotions than through music. This video encompasses all of that. My favorite part about it is the passion each man shows for their part in the compilation and for the absolutely beautiful end result. Thanks to Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson for their amazing display of the wonder that is music.

Some "Things" in the garden.

It's been forever since last I updated this blog. The boys were off track practically all of April so finding time to blog wasn't on the top of my list. Here's a quick update:

Baxter got his braces off and now has 2 retainers! One glued to the back of his front teeth, and an awesome pirate retainer--which has so far only ended up in the garbage once. (Knock on wood.)

Zander managed to lose his shoes at the park. (His cousin found them a few days later, but forgot to bring them home.)

Syler got another haircut--which his Daddy wanted, but then decided it changed Sy's look a little too much.
Also, his clogged tear duct FINALLY cleared up!!! (Can you feel my excitement?!?!?)

We took a family vacation up to Midway. It was great! Baxter took us around the museum at the Olympic park and we saw Aliens vs. Monsters--except Mommy 'cause she fell asleep.)

And finally, while exploring the jungles of the backyard, we came upon a couple of "Things" taking refuge before a storm. Aren't they cute?