a Hootin' Halloween

Photo shoot! I got carried away. I couldn't decide on just one picture so I decided to show the best ones. He's an owl, not a bat or a turkey. I'll never sew another baby hat.

They were out of T-shirts so Justin used a bumper sticker.

No time...

Need to post but I like sleeping more. Soon to come (well, no promises on timing):

Edwards AFB Air Show

Thanksgiving Feast

Food, glorious food (well, rice cereal, that is...)

Jenna's birthday and Disney on Ice

Rockin' & Rollin'

Here are some pictures to keep the grandparents from saying mean things about me.

watching Wall-E (3 months old)

learning to sit

loves books!

eating feet

Alex's birthday

at the soccer park

more feet

The Love of a Wife

You know how much your wife loves you when in the course of a conversation about how much life insurance you should get she states, "You probably shouldn't get too much.... I wouldn't want to be tempted."

Now that's really Love.

4 months old

Brody's growing so fast... here are a few fun facts

-15 lbs 8 oz, 26 inches long

-wearing 6 month clothes

-loves TV

-bites everything & drools like crazy

-sleeps with mom & dad

-loves being outside

-holds his own bottle

-rarely spits up

-loves the kid in the mirror

-has had grapes & watermelon juice (don't tell his Dr.)

-an easy smile

Quick Trip

Justin took Andrew & Alex to 1st ward's overnighter & they had a blast. Before they went all Alex could talk about was marshmallows this, marshmallows that.

Walk of a hundred giants - on the way there Justin tried to describe how big the trees were & he said they were bigger than his truck but the boys thought he was fooling them. They were so amazed when they actually saw them.

At Dome Rock

At the fish hatchery

Grandma Bees

Nita Jean Beesley, 1929 - 2009

This year on August 16th I didn't get to hear Gramda's sweet voice singing "Happy Birthday" over the phone. She always called on my birthday; in fact she never missed any of her 6 children's, 16 grandchildren's, or 12 great-grandchildren's birthdays. Instead my mom & dad showed up at my door after church to tell me what had happened. Our family's so big chances are that she would go on someone's birthday and she must have known I wouldn't take it personally! Grandma had sat down on the stand before church and put her head in her hands, waiting for the meeting to start. But when the music began, she didn't get up to lead it.

It's an odd feeling I have about the whole thing; I almost feel bad about how I don't really feel very sad. Grandma was always talking about Grandpa so much that as soon as I heard I immediately imagined her in a young, vibrant and spunky spirit body getting all giddy when she sees him again. Knowing how much she loves Grandpa makes me all sappy and sets an example for eternal marriage and what I should be doing now to strengthen mine. She would talk about how her body was getting old & slow but her mind was still young & active, always wanting to learn more. I think about how she's not limited by her slow body anymore and that she must be jumping at the chance to go to work with Grandpa. She's always worrying about everyone else & finally she's done something for herself (whether she meant to or not). She's a great example of the Atonement to me - she was humble & often admitted things that she could improve about herself. She knew she wasn't perfect but death didn't scare her. Yes, I'll miss her temporarily but I'm also so excited for her.

The funeral service on August 22nd was wonderful, filled with fond memories and stories from friends & family. One thing that I enjoyed hearing was that when Grandpa died 20 years ago someone offered sympathy to Grandma and that she said that she was not sorry - she was excited for Stan because it was "like he had graduated." I think that explains nicely how I feel about Grandma. She was good with words. Thank you to everyone who has sent their sympathy and encouragement to my family.

It was fun to catch up with many family members whom I hadn't seen in too long. We had fun singing together & playing games late into the night.

I had the opportunity to help make the program for the service. I had fun spending many hours scanning in all of the old pictures we had collected of Grandma. She seems to have had such an exciting life, but I think it was what she made of it. Here are some of my favorites.

a beauty at 13

scandalous!

this is how I'll remember her

Family Vacation 2009 - Part One

On Wednesday, July 22nd we left home at 7pm & drove to Las Vegas. There was rain & lightning all through the desert which looked spectacular over the city lights.

We stayed on the 29th floor (of 30) at the Luxor pyramid overlooking the Excalibur - good typical room, nothing to write home about.

Thursday morning we barely left the room by check-out time. We drove down the strip & headed for Grandma & Grandpa's house. We arrived around 8pm & visited for a while.

Friday morning we went on a drink run with Grandma & Grandpa - a 6 day per week ritual for them. We went to TJMaxx & picked out some footie pajamas for Brody ('cause I just had to have more - look how fun...)

& Great-grandma got him this super-cute book.

We had lunch with my friend Kathy at Cafe Rio (yum!)

and then went back to Grandma & Grandpa's where we took Brody swimming for the 1st time.

We could only find little swimmers in size 16 lbs & up so we had to improvise with duct tape. Here's our little sumo kid.

Brody didn't know quite what to think of the water. He loves bath time but this water wasn't as warm & it was twilight out so it wasn't even hot outside. He didn't cry for more than a second, though.

On Saturday we went with cousins Brooke & Brandon to Utah Olympic Park at Park City. They were having the Festival of Flight.

We saw the K120 Long Jump contest & my favorite was the Flying Ace All-Stars. We video taped the show. I love my little Canon point & shoot. Check it out: