he went. he saw. he won a major award. and he sung some songs.

last weekend was great! we made the trek to arizona for jeff’s 10-year high school reunion. i think the feelings at reunions are always mixed–a bit of uneasy awkwardness accompanied by excitement. i’m just glad it wasn’t my reunion. 😉 but i did have a fabulous time getting dressed up for the occasion (i’ll share that story later). overall, he’s glad he went and i was happy to accompany him.

the highlights of the event: jeff won the extreme makeover award. are you wondering about those implants he had? hee hee.
i guess you could consider his new set of front teeth as implants but besides that everyone was amazed that jeff actually grew after high school. he can’t remember how tall he was at graduation, but by the reactions he seemed to be getting from everyone, it would seem that he was 4’10”. 😉

the other highlight was the mini reunion he had with his good friends from a singing group way back when. ever heard of twyce around? 6 guys. 6 high school hotties. 6 amazingly talented voices. they even made a cd. this was big time stuff. 🙂

it was a treat to see them get together again. laugh. reminisce. and pick up singing like they never left off. these are the friends that meant the most to jeff and i’m so glad they were all there to “relive the glory days.”

dallin loved it too. we listen to the cd all the time at home and in the car. you can imagine his excitment to see and hear the songs in person. it was fun to hang with the other wives as well. yeah, we’re groupies!

here’s a little taste of the glory…

dallin’s favorite song

and another barbershop beauty

we love it when jack blows into town! although ella may look otherwise–this is her classic face. and even though i wish i could have gotten a smile from her, i am glad i captured this look.
the pouty, sassy, fiesty, you-want-a-piece-of-me? look.

it was a happy halloween for buzz and the flamenco dancer. plenty of candy and quite possibly the funnest street we’ve ever hit. front lawns were converted into corn fields, garages doubled as haunted houses, and the most amazing treat a four-year-old could ever receive–playdough! he sat at the table playing with it most of the day without even asking for his candy. that’s what i’m talkin’ about!

too bad mine and jeff’s plan to dress up as nacho and encarnacion didn’t work out this year. jeff’s quite daring and all but somehow i couldn’t convince him to wear stretchy pants. not even in his room. just for fun. 🙂

dallin had his first little preschool fieldtrip yesterday. destination–the pumpkin patch. he rode the big yellow school bus. whoo-eee! and perhaps this was the highlight of the event. he woke up at 5 am in the morning anxiously awaiting the hour he could climb aboard the bus and be a big boy.

i remember looking forward to my day on the bus as a little girl too. what is it about riding on buses, trains, and planes that makes us feel giddy excitement? maybe it’s the adventure. maybe it’s the journey. maybe it’s staring out the window at whatever. i love it all.

here’s a little photographic recap of our adventure yesterday.

only i just realized i didn’t take any pictures of the pumpkins. silly girl!

poor lil bloggy. october has been lacking in the journal entry department. seems like i haven’t had too much to say lately. not that there has been an absence of things happening around here. i guess sometimes i talk a lot. sometimes i don’t.

but i do have something to say about my little man.
he really does amaze me on a daily basis. lately he is obsessed with “working” as he calls it. strangely enough, this boy would rather play with office supplies, paper, pens, staplers, etc. than action figures or cars. he sits at his desk for hours coloring, stapling papers, or folding them. whenever we call him down to dinner, he usually says, “i can’t right now guys, i’m working.” he used to come into our room in the morning to snuggle. now, he wakes up and goes to work. funny little kid.

and you can only imagine my surprise when i walked by the kitchen table the other day and saw this on his paper!

i had no idea he could do this!!! i knew he could spell his name, but i didn’t know he could write it!!!
this is one proud mama, folks.

that is something good to say!

dallin has been saying some pretty funny stuff lately. he has a keen mind. no doubt about that.
so here is a little installment of a few of the things that have made us laugh.

while driving in the car on the way home from utah, i was on duty entertaining the kids and taking care of their needs. after many hours, i was pretty tired of constantly turning around. so i told the kids i need a little privacy and faced forward. after a few seconds, dallin chuckled and said, “mom, i can see your privacy.”

daddy was leaving to work one morning and dallin was standing at the garage door waving goodbye. as jeff was pulling out of the driveway, dallin yelled out, “dad, why do you have to go to work?”
jeff replied, “so you can eat!”
with a contented smile, dallin said, “you’re cute, dad!”

we were reading in the book of mormon about jesus being baptized as an example for us. we talked about jesus going under the water and after the baptism the holy ghost descended as a dove. as you might imagine, this was a difficult concept to explain. i thought he understood pretty well. later, dallin was telling jeff about what we had discussed. when he got to the part about the holy ghost, i reminded him that it was a dove. he turned to jeff and said, “yeah dad, some guy shot it and it fell out of the sky.”

and when dallin is really mad at his little sister, he says angrily, “ella, you’re a genious!”

funny words from a boy who knows more than we think he does.

the trip? well, the trip to utah was as good as any that i can remember.
perfect fall weather and every day packed with something big.
mission reunions, birthday parties, retirement parties, conference sessions, family visits, and good ole fun playing with grandpas.
can there be anything more fun in this world than a grandpa? i think not.

just a few memories from the weekend:

where’s grandpa? i noticed he happened to be in the picture. 🙂

dad’s retirement party. getting a family photo is a rare occasion!

hasta luego, utah! until next conference!

although no carolers will be out in the snow…

but leaves will be falling from the trees. and a little more chill in the air.
heading out for utah today. this really is my favorite time to be there. can’t wait for conference. after such an incredible relief society meeting, i’m excited to fill my bag with even more spiritual inspiration.
and it also doesn’t hurt that we get a double dose of grandparents. hot diggity dog!!

only one thing i am not looking forward to. 12 hours just like this…

hopefully a little curious george will give us some peace! either that or a lovely dose of benedryl. 😉

off we go!

for birthdays!

september is by far our busiest birthday month of the year. between both of our families, we have a whopping 17 birthdays to celebrate this month! i remember asking my mom once why everyone is always born in september. she smiled and said, “it’s probably because people are keeping each other warm during cold, winter months. either that or it’s a holiday!” i have subscribed to her theory ever since!

so i decided to run a few stats on the occurances of birthdays in our families. the findings show that january is the least populated month with only one birthday.
which brings me to a conclusion (albeit not statistically significant), april must be a pretty lonely month.
😉

in any case…i’m wishing all of the september babies a very…