Saturday, November 28, 2009

Can you REALLY die of excitement?



She's going to pop!!!
Thanks to some high blood pressure....

MONDAY'S THE DAY!!!!!




Gramibelle is packed and just waiting for the 7:30 am plane flight!






My friend Margo made me a Grandma Survival Kit to help ease the process...
(Notice that she's thinking of ME...not the Mommy? That's a great friend!!!)



My sweet friend Marty is taking my Seminary class...thanks so much!!!



These are Carter's Great Aunties...they're all dying to see him too!!



Grandpa Byron is excited....
Uncle Scotty is excited....
Uncle Mitch is kind of excited...
Uncle Jeffy is very excited...
Great Grandpa & Grandma are excited....
All our relatives who have passed on are saying "good-bye" and giving Carter last minute blessings...

I think I might just burst!!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

52 years and counting...


Today is Byron's birthday. He's 52 and probably really ticked that I put the number out there!!
Because people don't know much about the other half of me...

1. Byron is the third of four Byrons' in his family.
2. His nickname as a child was Barney.
3. Byron is very quiet.
4. Byron has an absolutely killer wicked sense of humor, and timing.
5. Byron totaled his parents car once. Totaled it. Only naughty thing he's ever done.
6. Byron doesn't really like water, like lakes etc... he's waiting for a creepy character to pop out.
7. Which brings me to...Byron loves scary movies. (I pretended to. )



8. Byron LOVES hot dogs.
9. Byron loves amusement parks.
10. Byron doesn't like to wear shoes.
11. Byron keeps a daily record of his doings. (impressive no?)
12. Byron's closet is VERY organized.
13. Byron watches TV in his underwear, (that was for you Andrea)
14. Byron loves to go on cruises.



15. Byron doesn't like chocolate. (what?)
16. Byron went to BYU on a full ride scholarship.
17. Byron scored a 760 out of 800 on his DAT. (smart boy)
18. Byron graduated in the top 10% in his Dental school class.



19. Byron loves the old TV show "The Avengers", ( we have a poster in our room...)
20. Byron LOVES music. His I-pod is close to full.
21. He has thousands and thousands of albums, 8-tracks, cassettes & CD's.
22. They are all in genre and alphabetical order.
23. Byron served a two year mission to Munich, Germany.
24. That's where he learned to love sausage, potatoes and cabbage.
25. Byron was a wild, wild, wild little boy.




26. Byron loves animals.
27. Byron loves to shop. (yes friends, you read that right...he LOVES to shop.)
28. Byron got three B's in college...Pearl of Great Price, Bowling and Organic Chemistry.
29. Byron can not tan. He burns very well however...
30. Byron likes to vacum and clean up.
31. Byron LOVES, LOVES, LOVES soda pop.
32. Byron is a fan of the SF Giants.



33. Byron is a night owl.
34. Byron is now a Science teacher.
35. Going places with Byron is like going places with Mr. Wizard.



36. Byron is very neat and tidy. (opposites attract.)
37. Byron is very gentle and soft spoken. (see above)
38. Byron is a very loyal son.
39. Byron has a mind of useless trivia.
40. No one likes to play games with him. He always wins.



41. Byron loves to watch Chelsea Lately. (it's his one vice...)
42. Byron was never once grounded in his life. (see side bar of #36)
43. Byron doesn't like ice cream, or dessert in general. (CAN NOT Relate)
44. Byron has very nice, readable handwriting. He flunked chicken scratch in Dental school.
45. Byron used to run track.
46. Byron used to play club volleyball and racquetball.
47. Everyone loves Byron.
48. Byron loves his kids fiercely.



49. Byron would rather be with his family than anywhere in the world.
50. Byron is very tolerant of his family's reality TV addictions.



51. Byron is excited about being a Grandpa!
52. Byron is very brave.


And.....

53. Byron shares a birthday with our son-in-law Skyler! Happy Birthday to two of my favorite guys ever!!!

Monday, November 2, 2009

My little hidden talent...

It's official...I am officially burned out as a creative mother.
For years and years I sewed masterpiece costumes...
A killer tomato, a shark, Harry Potter, various Pokeman characters, princesses, purple dinosaurs, skunks, mice, Genie's, Cheerleaders, Little Bo Peep.....
nothing was too labor intensive for me.










This year?
Jeff was a nerd...loved it, didn't cost a dime or a minute of my time.
Scotty was a ghost. An old sheet, a pair of scissors and a Sharpie.
And I didn't do a thing. I even forgot to take pictures.
I'm not even a Good Enough Mom.

Carter...Grammibelle promises to get her Halloween Mojo back by next year!

In the meantime....

It's well documented that I can sew.
I can cook too, as evidenced by my backside.

I can organize events.
I can soothe angry, out of control teenagers.

I can garden and grow things.
I can laugh (ha!) at just about anything.

I have some talents.
But the one I secretly pat myself on the back for?


I can carve a pumpkin.


I know it's not curing cancer or bringing world peace,
but it requires patience
and that's something I have in short supply most days.

You don't have to be impressed,
I am impressed enough for the both of us.
Hope I don't break my arm patting myself on the back.




This one is for Jeff who is still devastated that his team isn't in the World Series.



Scotty carved this one!! Chip off the old block!!! Momma is so proud.



The little boy next door loved this one..."oooooh scawwy"





Love this one!

I'm trying to think what I can carve for Christmas.

Photography by Jeff