happy thanksgiving

i know this is a few days late and i'm sure you've all moved on to christmas. but here's us on thanksgiving. austin took the pic. we're super grateful for all you—our friends and family. we hope it was a good day for everyone.

New baby Enoch. See what I mean?

Happy Birthday E.

Happy Birthday blurry boy! As I've told you before, your birthday was a sharp right turn in what had been a rather messed up young adult life, and I thought you were the most beautiful baby in the world (felt sorry for people whose baby wasn't you). I still feel pretty lucky and know that a bunch of other people do too. Thanks for being such a good son, friend, support. I love the way you go out of your way to make people comfortable, the way you are so nonjudgmental, the way you love Amy and the kids. I am so glad you were born and love every minute I get to spend with you.

Christmas

Sorry to interrupt the flow of cool posts with my nagging. It's just that I want to do all my Christmas shopping this weekend before everything goes crazy after Thanksgiving. Are we drawing names? Are we just doing our own family? I'm fine either way.

And to make this post cool here is a picture of Mr. Magnificent. He's a local Santa Cruz grandpa who skateboards and juggles at the same time. We hired him for our Thanksgiving event we had on Sunday. I kind of want him for Christmas.

the MTC

one of the perks of living in utah is getting to be part of the pre-mission excitement. colleen and noelle got here on friday and we spent the weekend visiting people, shopping for cute, but conservative mission appropriate attire, and hanging out and enjoying each other's company. we also all (the three girls) got cute haircuts on tuesday morning. we dropped noelle off at the MTC this morning and also got to see Quin which was fun. I'm super excited for both of them and can't wait to hear about all of their adventures. here's a few pictures from the day.

i tried to use my tripod to get a pic of all of us, but my tripod is very short. so i think our knees are in focus. oh well.

our glamourous Sister Spring. we also got to be there when she was set apart which was very sweet and Bo was even reverent (which i was worried about).

these guys really bonded in just the few days she was here, so now bo and I will both miss her.

bo did make things more interesting by trying to eat the potted plants in the MTC lobby.

red headed missionary cousins. good luck you two!

I am sure these two will be great missionaries and am so glad I got to see them off. I have Noelle's addresses as do Colleen and Austin and I'm sure we can easily get Quin's address if anyone wants to write missionary letters (or draw pictures) for FHE. you can also go to dearelder.com and send an email that they will print and deliver to the MTC for free if you have a few minutes. I've never been to the MTC, but I've heard that mail is a big deal there so I'm sure it will be appreciated.

So Long, Farewell to Q

As you may already know, Quinton and Noelle both report today to the MTC (a little mini cousins' camp). Someone pointed out the fact they they both also have great similar hair.

Happy Birthday Karen!

Karen is still the Goddess of Fruit!

What a wonderful sister, aunt, daughter and friend she is!

We all love and admire Karen....she is "K"eeping all of us connected "A"rtistic to the ultimate max "R"eady to show love and lend a helping hand "E" ternal in her perspective and actions "N" ear and dear to all our hearts! You are the best... Bubs!

Karen has been a sister to me and also an extra mom that I desperately needed all along the way, her head massages melt me, her piano playing transcend me and her diligence to her family mesmerize me, how lucky we are to have Karen in our family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAREN!

Cat Lady

Mimi and the Yellow Cat (A Sequel)

We know Mimi is not a complainer and is a model good sport. Still, there are some things that are just plain wrong. The other night Butterscotch slipped inside to escape our suddenly turned cold weather and immediately darted into Mimi's room and then under her bed, where she was already asleep. I figured he'd sleep under there for a bit and then at some point come and get me to let him out. So, when I heard Mimi calling for me to come a couple of hours later, I hurried in.

"I DON'T SLEEP WITH A CAT!!"

Mimi and the "Yellow Dog"

Yes, Mimi voted. Absentee ballot, but dropped off today at the polls. The other day, Yesenia and Chrisitian were quizzing her on her preferences with this election. A name came up, I won't say who, and she said she would sooner vote for a yellow dog than that candidate. The big thing in our neck of the woods is if we are for or against being our own little city in this unincorporated area known as Arden-Arcade. Not a real catchy name for an address, but proponents said we could vote on a better new name than the hyphenated one.

Happy post- halloween. We loved all the halloween reports and pictures. If you were here, we would pass out the mini candy bars in the pumpkin basket. Promise.

So long, farewell

Yesterday was my "farewell" (although I've been advised that you can't call it that anymore. It was my "talk right before you leave on your mission.") My dad spoke about not hiding your light behind a bushel, and then my mom spoke about the importance of the individual, then we sang a musical number - "The Olive Tree" with Pam, me, Mariah and Charlene singing, Andy on the flute, and Jennifer Duerden as the accompanist, and then I spoke. I talked about coming unto Christ through faith and obedience. I was so happy Andy and Charlene could be here this week (they got to go through the Laie Temple Open House too). It worked out so perfectly. They are heading back to Folsom today. It was fun spending time with them. I still don't leave for Utah for another two weeks, but it was nice to have a spiritual send off. Here are some pics we took afterwards. (Pam and Jake and Mariko had to leave after the meeting so they're not in the pictures, but they were there :) and Ethan and Isaiah kept running off to Sunday School (um, priorities?) so they were kind of hit or miss in the pictures).