September Synopsis

Yeah, September was crazy. However crazy is our new normal, so we don't really mind. Here is the Cliff's Notes version of what happened:

Bri got married. It was lovely, and wonderful, and her Michael is (like my Michael) a great guy. A real catch. But he still married up . . . because you can't top perfection, and (don't you forget it Mike) . . . that is what she is.
Y'all know I'll jump on any opportunity to whip up a wedding cake. Bummer that I didn't think to move all that junk out of the background before taking the pictures.
I think my dad is sick of me telling him that I'm so glad he stuck around long enough for this and that (because the list of things I'm glad he stuck around for is long). I remember every time I see him that we almost lost him, and am so thankful we didn't.
My darling Alice and her sweet cousin Gwen. I don't think there are two cuter little girls on this side of the Mississippi. Probably not on the other side of it either . . . but I haven't checked over there recently.
Before the wedding I threw Brianna a shower that just happened to coincide with the first day of school . . . and pack meeting . . . but that is okay. Michael and I are continually honing our multi-tasking skills. We divide and conquer like nobody's business.

The shower was a great excuse to decorate the new house. Sadly, this is the only shot I got of the decor. Whoops.
It was also a great excuse to execute (with Emily's help) something I've been hoping to try for a while . . . a cupcake buffet!
Also in September; our neighbor's irrigation pump for the sprinkling system broke. Some of my new favorite neighborhood guys decided to get together and replace it. Water was literally gushing for hours while half the neighborhood crawled around in the swampy grass drilling screwdrivers into the ground in search of the shutoff valve that had gotten lost under years of grass growth. Meanwhile, someone decided to plug the pipe with a baseball and a rubber glove. I haven't laughed (or shivered . . . canal water is cold!) so hard in ages. We finally found the valve a little before midnight. Michael and I jokingly discussed keeping our new pond and putting koi in. You'd think something like this would stress me out, but it was such a great opportunity to meet and get to know all our new neighbors. The whole situation was beyond hilarious . . . aside from the fact that if that baseball had shot out from the canal pressure, we probably would have had to replace some siding on our garage.

Okay, even that was funny.
We spent a good part of September watching this kiddo play soccer on his new competitive team. He got a late start since the team had been together since June, (he joined in August) but I think he's finding his groove.
Yeah, I i-photoshopped the name off his Jersey. I never claimed to be good at digital editing.

Alice and Thomas started gymnastics at a new gym. They seem to like it, and there is suddenly a lot more wall-climbing and somersaulting going on around here.

Finally, to top off September, my Grandpa John passed away. John married my Grandma when I was in college and quickly became an integral part of the family. He'd been sick for years, but was such a sweet caring man and took great care of Grandma. We took a whirlwind trip down to Saint George for the funeral and to see my Grandma. And now I worry about her every day.

There is September. I don't think things are slowing down at all. It's okay though, I'd rather be busy than bored. The amazing thing about all of this is that I feel like I'm finally getting Michael back from residency. I've been doing things on my own for so long while he worked nonstop, that I still don't expect to have much help with anything. It's always a pleasant surprise to find that I'm not on my own anymore. I'm remembering that part of being married is sticking by each other, having each other's backs and sharing mundane things about each other's lives that nobody else really cares about. I'm not used to being able to call him during the work day and have him answer the phone. I feel like the kids are much, much happier now too. So in spite of the hectic pace, things are better than they have been in a long time, because a piece of our family that has been intermittently missing for the past six years is permanently in place. Life is good.

Reception

Sister Emily and her new husband Brant. They are just oozing adoration for each other.
Our darling nephew discovered (the hard way) that he was allergic to cats right before the reception began.

Poor kid. His face swelled up like a marshmallow in a microwave.

It was so sad.

And a little bit funny.

But mostly sad.

I swear I only laughed a little bit.

And then I scrounged up some Benadryl for him.

He thinks he's too big for me to hug, or I totally would have. This picture still makes me want to hug him.

The parents. I think their feet hurt . . . but look! Still smiling.
Instead of throwing rice we waved sparklers. My biggest concern was that Em's hair might catch fire. A girl needs a lot of product on her wedding day, you know. Fortunately she must have planned ahead and applied some type of flame retardant. She's smart like that.
The car.
And then it was all over and we cleaned up and cleaned up and cleaned up for a long time.

The end.

Spring Break Pilgrimage to the Motherland

The Hike

The sister-in-law and I drove our six kids and two cars for 14 hours each way without our workaholic husbands.

Thomas barfed 3 times in the car.

The nephew barfed once, but it was big.

So both our cars stank.

Both of our portable DVD players were not functioning.

But the trip wasn't actually so bad, because everyone was happy to be going to Grandma's house.

And then the sick ones were better. Well, the nephew was finally better after a few hours in the emergency room and some intravenous fluids.

We hiked.

We ate KFC.

We fed ducks.

We ignored our kids while they played video games and we caught up with family.

We tied a quilt for my Getting-Married-Sister.

I met her fiancee. He passed inspection, but I didn't get to know him too well because he was WAY more interested in her than in me.

Which is okay.

We scrubbed out rank car seats and hosed down chunky floor mats and prayed that we wouldn't have to do it all over again after the return trip to Portland. Prayers were answered.

We ate my all time favorite ice-cream that is only available in the motherland.

We played Farkel at midnight and made copious jokes about the word "Farkel" that were significantly more funny at midnight than they are right now.

I bowled a 121. Not the best, but I won. So there.

We let the children revel in mounds of attention from their doting grandparents, aunts and uncles.

I finally saw The Blind Side and The Princess and The Frog. I also took in an extremely mediocre The Bounty Hunter. I think I'm done with Jennifer Aniston movies.

I met my brand-spanking new baby nephew. (Note to nephew's parents . . . if you decide not to keep him, I've got dibs.)

Helped my little sister celebrate her birthday by making Better Than Chex cake. She wanted something chocolate and gooey, and I had to oblige.

Bumped into people I hadn't seen in ages, missed some friends that I was really hoping to see.

And I felt like a terrible parent when I had to wrench my weeping children away from their grandparents when it was time to return home. Sometimes a week isn't enough. I guess we'll just have to move back there.

An Open Letter To The Grandparents

We tried getting a decent picture of them for your valentine.
Honest.
But frankly, what we came away with wasn't even worth taking the time to work red-eye reduction on. Even the miraculous Photoshop couldn't have fixed these pictures.
So I didn't.
We still love you, even though we sent a photo-free valentine this year.
I'm actually surprised we all survived the experience.

Addendum: I feel like I need to be an advocate for Thomas now. He's been getting some bad press on the blog lately, and the fact is, he's a pretty easy-going kid. He's my little buddy and doesn't mind being toted all over town to lessons and babysitters. He plays well with others too, which is big, considering the fact that he's three. I'll also brag that he knows the whole alphabet and the sounds that they make. He can even spell a few three-letter words. We'll keep him . . . we just won't take any pictures of him for a while. Or let him loose while I'm singing in public.