It's Begining to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Time for all the fun festivities like putting up the Christmas Tree. This year we got a much smaller tree and it was SO much easier to put up and decorate.
And Christmas Concerts. I missed going to the high school band concerts last year. It was the first year we hadn't had a high schooler in band in a long time. The little ones really enjoyed it as you can see.

Lydia and I went to a Mother/Daughter tea party at the Cameo Heights Mansion. It was so fancy and yummy! I just love this spontaneous pose she struck on the grand staircase in the entry hall.

And here she is at her school Christmas Concert. She does not love performing but she still does a great job.

The Knights came for Thanksgiving

We had a fun Thanksgiving at home this year. Todd's sister Kelly and her family came for the day. Here are the men in the kitchen taking on the turkey.
Here is the whole clan together. A fun time was had by all. It was our first holiday without Garrett home but we all survived.

After dinner we played a rousing game of nertz. We all got schooled by the cheerleaders. It was embarrassing. Then we hung out and talked while the kids played on the Wii Fit. And then the shopping began!

Argentina here he comes!

The first stop was at the Stake Presidents house on our way out of town. Or I guess I should say just on our way since he lives in a town about an hour away and it's in Oregon. He let Todd do the setting apart. It was a great experience. Pres. Brown made sure we had plenty of water for our journey because he was sure I would be dehydrated before we reached our destination.

I guess the worst part by far was watching him say goodbye to his siblings before we left home. There are no pictures because there was just to much sobbing. It was the hardest thing ever to watch. We stayed with my sister, Cindy, and went the next day to the MTC. We stopped by the MTC early to get some pictures before the crowds arrived. Garrett was feeling every emotion available. But seeing that MTC sign was very exciting. It was hard to believe this day had finally arrived. There were many years of planning and praying for this day. We went to lunch and to pick up a few last minute items. We stopped first just up the hill from the MTC to say our last goodbyes since there is little time for that at the drop off point. Yes there were many tears and last minute expressions of love and advice. We were sure we were done with the tears and all promised to be strong and not cry when we got to the MTC.

We all lied. Yes there were more tears and one last quick hug and he was on his way. I was so grateful for the big smile he turned around and gave us as he walked away. It did a mother's heart good. It was the most bittersweet day ever. We were both feeling misery and immense joy. Soooo hard to say goodbye. Couldn't even think of how long two years would be. But I wouldn't want him anywhere else. It's one of those experiences you just can't explain. It's something a parent has to experience to really know. The subsequent letters we received were filled with so much growth and maturity it couldn't help but make the distance much more bearable.

Halloween 09

Okay am I really determined to catch up. But the longer it goes the less motivation I have. But here is my attempt.
Here are the kids at the Trunk or Treat at the church.
On Halloween we had a bunch of people over for soup and rolls like we always do since our neighborhood is a huge hot spot for trick or treating. This is Garrett and his friend Jordan in their Lord of the Rings costumes. This was only a couple of days before Garrett left for his mission and Jordan left a few months after him.

We ended up having about 35 people over that night. Here are some of the kids that came in their costumes.

We ended up carving pumpkins at the last minute since this was a very busy time for us. Here is Elijah with his huge pumpkin that we grew in our garden.

And Lydia with hers.

Eli in costume at his preschool party. He loves his superheroes!

A Great Day at the Temple

First this is a picture of the family after Garrett's awesome farewell talk. He did a great job! Not a dry eye. Tried to get a picture with everyone that was there but ended up with just us, the Knights (Todd's sister and family) and Grandma Roskelley. Grandma and Grandpa Anderson took waaaaay too long to get there and we were all dying to change our clothes and EAT! And Gayle, Rachel and Josh (my sis-in -law and niece and her husband) had left to go back to Spokane already. (Probably just to get out of being in the picture.) Gayle gets cudos for coming the furthest. All the way from Colorado.
A couple days later we had an incredible experience at the temple. There is nothing like seeing your child in the temple for the first time. Here he is with his Dad.With his Dad and Grandpa Anderson.

We were very blessed to have a lot of friends and ward members there with us that night. Here is all the family members with us. This is a terrible picture but the best we could do without anyone holding the camera.

Garrett with his parents and grandparents.

Happy Birthday Bridget! 18! Woo!

Bridget's Birthday came in the middle of lots of farewell events for Garrett. Todd was out of town but Grandma Roskelley was here to help celebrate on the actual day. Bridget is so busy it is hard to find time for anything with her. On the actual day of her birthday I took donuts to seminary and then that night I just made some cupcakes for a little celebration. The real celebration came several days later when Dad was home and all the grandparents were here. Grandma Roskelley made her famous chocolate cake that we all love so much. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of that day. Her dinner choice was pasta and a huge salad.

Hard to believe we have three adult children. Good thing the 6 and 4 year olds keep us young.

Homecoming 09

Once again I can't move these pictures around so they are all mixed up and mostly backwards.
Gangsta Bridget
This is the group Bridget and her date went with. You can see the Homecoming queen was in their group. (She's the one with the crown)Bridget went with a boy she is friends with from church.

Here they are at our house before the big date. Notice the purple shoes. That was her favorite part of the outfit.

Putting on the flower. Always a delimma.