Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas From:

Since I don't plan ahead well and I likely will not get a Christmas card out to everyone, I want to use this blog to wish everyone a very happy holiday. We have been so blessed this year and we are grateful for all we have been given. I know it has been a tough year in some respects, but we recognize the importance of counting our blessings. And that includes many of you, our friends and family.

So may this Christmas be the best yet. We love you all!

David, Natalie, Darci and Maile

Halloween Fun

Sometimes Halloween is actually a scary thing, as I am about to prove in this post. We celebrated this year with an adult only party at the Bagley's house. We had a great time and thanks to everyone who helped out and also everyone who came and had a great time! Here are a few highlights.

Lots of atmosphere. That is what we went for. I think we did a pretty good job. Thanks to Heather for all the props and to Lane and Katie for letting us use their home. You guys are the best!
The Christensen's totally rocked the party. Thanks for coming you guys.

Lots of scary people getting their groove on. Bet you can't tell which one is me?

Noreen and Alan's costumes rocked.

So did the Bushmans. FUNNY.

Can't forget the Millers. (I don't think I could forget Austin's get-up if I wanted to).

Shanna and Patti were cute as Sarah Palin.

Justin was a little less cute as John McCain. But Shanna makes up for it.

And in case it is not totally obvious who David and I are supposed to be I will fill you in. I am attempting to channel my inner Cher, and David has become one with the Cowbell!

I think Ben had the greatest costume of the night. Sometimes the ones with the least effort are by far the best! Nice job you guys.

And here is a shout-out to our hosts of the night Elton John and Madonna. Way to go! Thanks for the fun night. I think this is definitely going to have to be a tradition.

Here is one more shot of me and David without the fog machine blurring it up.

"Guess what?! I've got a fever! And the only prescription, is more COWBELL!"

Deer Valley

My Mom's cousin was kind enough to let my family use her condo in deer valley for a few days last week. We had a great time relaxing and hangin with the Birds.

My brother Michael made it clear to me that he did not give me permission to take this picture. So I decided to publish it.
This is Maile. She was looking at the camera and being cute and as soon as I snapped the photo she looked away.
Typical.

That's better.

This was breakfast with everyone. The table actually fit everyone.

Maile playing on the bed. Nap times are pretty much non-existent anymore.

And yet we keep trying.

I know I have a lot of pictures of Maile, but she was being so funny. Russ dressed her up and she wanted to play football. How could I argue?

She definitely had fun torturing Mike and Erin.

Here is dinner with everyone. It was nice to spend a little time together without all the daily distractions.

I can't recall why I took this picture. Maybe it was because I felt so tall.

Kids in the tub is probably not the kind of photo my girls will appreciate, but they were getting along and no one was crying during bath time. This is a pretty rare thing and constitutes documentation.

Anniversary Get Away

Sometimes driving can take it's toll. Especially when it is through Idaho. No offense to all my wonderful friends from Idaho, but there are some parts of your state that are best driven in the dark. I am happy to say that we found one stretch of highway we could not get enough of.

This is me outside of Tetonia Idaho. I am trying to look sexy but it really looks like I am just tired. The truth is, I was.

See what I mean by pretty? When the sky finally clears up it is not a bad view.

This is the view over the Teton pass. That is Jackson Hole behind me. That was a pretty day.

What next?

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! LUCKY NUMBER 7

For our anniversary this year David and I stole away for a few days in Jackson Hole. We stayed at the Snake River Lodge and Spa in Teton village. It was a quick trip, but it was really nice to not have kids or responsibilities for a while.

We ate at a little BBQ place just outside the village. It was very laid back and the food was great. Plus we were STARVING!

The sunset outside Teton Village that night was gorgeous. The photo does not do justice.

This photo doesn't either. The sky was a bit stormy and we had some snow flurries, but the Tetons are great in all weather.

This was the view from the highway as you come out of Jackson

So of coarse we had to stop.

You really cannot beat the fall weather and the beauty of nature.

And you cannot go to Jackson Hole without taking a picture under the Antlers.

For David it was a right of passage.

We hung out at the Elk Preserve for a while to warm up. It was pretty chilly. In the low 50's and windy.

We did not see too many elk. It may have been a little early for the mass migration that is supposed to happen. But it was still nice.

We were almost the only people there and so we had to take turns taking pictures of eachother.

I had David take this one since his school mascot is the Silverwolf. I thought it was cute. He probably thought it was dorky.

We had a great lunch of Chicken Pesto pizza. Let's face it, everything just tastes better on vacation.

Several Months Shoved into one Blog!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Thanks to everyone who came to my birthday party. If you did not make it, we missed you. It was a lot of fun to see everyone and get together with friends and family. It took a lot of the sting out of turning 30!

Maile loved the balloons and carried them around pretty much the whole night. Parties are really for children anyway.
I think we had enough food! Everyone was so helpful and we had a lot of good food.
Thanks to David for helping keep everything organized and for lifting a lot of heavy things.
A huge thanks to Lane and Katie for pulling this whole thing off. I could not have done it without your grill and Slurpee machine! That made the whole party. You guys ROCK!

Bird Parties are always fun. This was a few weeks ago with my Dad's family at my Aunt's house. This is Maile and I with my Dad and my Grandpa. Four generations are the best.

Here is Erin dragging the girls around. They love her so much and can't get enough of her.
This is my dad's family. My uncle Dale was here visiting from Virgina. It was good to see everyone.

Maile being a stinker. But that is nothing new.

Darci was begging all night for someone to play with her. She did not care who, just someone. The problem was we all wanted to eat and talk. It is hard being a kid with adults.
DIVAS RULE!
Here is the fam posing with uncle Dale. Good times.


We took the girls to Red Butte Gardens one weekend. We hadn't been there before, but we had a great time and the gardens are beautiful. This is Mai and Darci riding a moose.

We had a game going on to see if we could find all the ponds. Lucky for us, there are a lot!
Maile was tired, but she did a great job being dragged every where that day

They have a children's garden for kids to play. So we played... And Played...
And played...




David and I went to the Greek Festival with our friends the Curnows. We had never been, but I would brave the crowds again just for the food. Of coarse I LOVE Greek food. But it was a lot of fun, especially with our friends.

Just ask them.


This was taken up Provo Canyon one afternoon when David and I both happened to have the day off.

We did a little walking and just enjoyed what was left of the summer.

We got to go visit Erin on her birthday.
It was really great to see her. She is the coolest.


On Labor Day we went to David's parents house for a BBQ and horse ride. The kids could not get enough of it. They wanted to go again and again and we finally had to stop when it got dark.

Girls Darci rode with everyone who would take her; this is her turn with Jessica.

And how can we not love a mama's girl?

It is easy when daddy is the one with the horse.

Or Jessica, or Grandpa or Kyle or Mike...