Some Semblance of Success...

We have achieved a small measure of success this past weekend. Everyone in our home is adjusting to big changes. Some of us have moved, some of us have new house-mates. Some of us don't get as much time with our parents. Some of us have to eat different food than we are used to. Some of us don't get to exercise as much as we'd like. There are lots of changes and, all in all, we are slowly getting there. I don't think I can tell you exactly where "there" is, but I think I will know it when I see it.

We have the Wii and the weekend before last we broke it out for the first time since the wedding. It was total chaos, contention and arguing. The kids had some fun but there was way more fighting than frivolity. This most recent weekend, we tried a new strategy. We broke them up into teams, we created a chart so that teams and "first-player" would rotate. And you know what, the strangest thing happened... It actually worked.

Playing the Wii was fun. There was a little bickering but mostly laughing, cheers and encouragement. Score one for the parents!!!

So this is love...

Happy One-Month Anniversary Sweetheart!

Exactly one month ago today, I married my best friend, tennis partner, hiking buddy and the absolute love of my life. Earl is an amazing man who is strong, gentle, intelligent, wise, deeply spiritual and very fun. As you can see, he is also very handsome and I am so happy!



I have known Earl since February 2007. We met in an institute class and became friends. We found we had several common interests and we both had interest in one another. But, it wasn't the right time. I was involved with someone and he just wasn't ready. We dated a bit in the spring of that year and then hung out as friends. The following spring, I became available again and there was Earl. We began dating again in March and quickly fell in love. It was as if we had both been perfectly molded to be a part of each others lives.

Our wedding day was PERFECT!!!! There's no other word to describe it. We were the stereotypical bride and groom... Completely oblivious to anything but our moment. It was magical! It's a day I will never forget.



One of our earliest activities together was dancing. In fact, one of my favorite Earl stories happened at a dance. We had been out a few times, in 2007, and didn't know each other extremely well. Earl, Kerry, Cheryl and I decided to try a singles dance. While dancing with Earl, I looked up at him and exclaimed, "I love to twirl!" He heard, "I love you Earl!" He looked a little confused and said, "Did you just say, I love you Earl?" I burst out laughing and, in turn, said "Why haven't you turned and run screaming from the building?" The misheard phrase was corrected and we had a great chuckle about it. Now, I truly do love to twirl with Earl. Silly!


The day would not have been complete if we were not able to share it with the four most important people in our lives, our wonderful children. They were great! They all participated and did a great job. They were quite pleased with themselves, as you see. They had been "pressuring" us for months to get hitched and they were obviously quite pleased with the results. Job well done kids! Perhaps we can get you to negotiate raises for your mom and dad!

Boo Times = Good Times

Before I blog about our "spooktacular" Halloween festivities I should mention a few things that have taken place since July. (I have promised myself I am going to actually become a blogger and post something at least once a week.) Since July I have:

1) Fallen head over heels in love.
2) Accepted the most amazing mans proposal.
3) Planned a wedding.
4) My daughter was baptized.
5) I got married!
6) I've become a mother to 3 amazing boys.

Whew! It's been a whirlwind! There hasn't been much time to sit at a computer, but winter is coming, things are settling down and I am recommitting.

So... Halloween was very different at our house this year. We had so many more people to share it with. One of my favorite traditions is carving pumpkins. Chloe loves it too! With a whole new family to share it with, it was even better.

Here are all the kids with their spooky creations.

Here's Jacob's pumpkin. He did this all by himself, without any help.
It turned out soooo.... awesome!

Here are Chloe and Matthew at work. We sure made a mess.

Ben worked really hard on his too!

It was great.

Earl, my sweet husband, was our photographer and his did a great job. We stayed up way too late but we had a blast!