Uncle Peter

While I was snapping away at the family photo shoot, the kiddos got a little restless.


I guess that I wasn't tossing out the fruitsnacks fast enough, because they attacked Uncle Peter.



Somehow, Uncle Pete ends up in the middle of everything. Don't let that terrified look in his face fool you - he's loving every minute of this.




It's just a good thing he can hold his own against five stir-crazy children... hope his future wife likes kids!

Aren't kids hilarious?

I've been working more on the family photo shoot, and even though the following five shots were all the same pose, I had to edit them all, because they are so funny! I love the expressions on the kids faces!

Family Pictures

Here are some pictures of the whole family that I took when we were home in June. It was the first time that we'd all been together for a year, and we haven't had a good family picture of everyone taken since Becky got married, so I asserted my power as oldest daughter and wielder of the expensive camera, and organized the shoot.

This was my first time setting up a photo shoot like this, since I got my new camera. I learned quite a few things. I set up the shots, then we had my brother's friend take the pictures for us, and I think in the future, I'm going to want a tripod. Even though the shot looked right for me, the friend taking the pictures is taller, and so there are some things that I would have changed if I'd been behind the lens. I'm thankful that my family was willing to be the guinea pig - they're getting a family photo for free, so they can't complain!

Sadly, this is the best I could do with the kids. I even swapped out heads from other shots.




This one's a little better of the kids, but Opa's not smiling. Unfortunately, I couldn't even swap heads, because all the photos with him smiling were out of focus (also a frustrating problem about not being behind the lens - not that we weren't really thankful for Peter's friend - he hadn't ever used my camera before, so he didn't know.)

Here are some better ones with the kids. Aren't they cute?


So, all in all, even though they didn't turn out perfectly, I'm glad we did it. It's good to have a family picture of everyone - except, wait - it's already outdated! Joanna gave birth a week or so later to Eli. We'll have to try again, next summer!

So Many Things to Blog About...

I wouldn't be surprised if I have totally lost my readers. Even though my readers are mostly my family, and they kinda just read my blog cause they love me. And they want to see cute pictures of my kids. So, sorry that I haven't blogged before this. I promise to do better.

So, some random thoughts.

I really miss singing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, still. It's been more than a year now, but it still surprises me how pained I feel when I remember. Of course, there is so much joy in the memory, too. I really wonder if I'll ever get to have musical experiences like that again. Hopefully I'll get to sing in Heavenly Choirs in the next life, huh? I have been teaching a lot of singing and piano lessons lately, though, and it does feel so satisfying to feel that I'm passing on that knowledge and joy to others. There are few things that give me greater pleasure than watching a student figure out a technique that opens and changes their voice in a beautiful and dramatic way. I love watching their faces, and see the surprise and joy at finding a new voice, refining that very personal part of themselves. I don't think that I'll ever get tired of that.

Do you ever think about the person you were as a teenager or young adult, and sometimes feel like you've lost important parts of who you were? Most of the important things, I think I've retained. But sometimes, I wonder if I've lost some elusive part of me - my zest for life, my intensity and drive. Maybe I'm just tired, because I'm the mother of four young children, and I haven't slept through the night in over a year, and I'm feeling a little melancholy tonight. But, part of me keeps hoping that I'll find it again.

And, onto yet another subject - Ben was called into the bishopric on Sunday - first counselor. The appointment with the Stake President was at 10 a.m., and by 11:15, he'd been sustained and was sitting on the stand. And I was sitting alone with our four children. Needless to say, it was all just a bit overwhelming. Can I just say, that I feel too young to be married to a member of the bishopric? I don't feel nearly wise enough, or together enough in my life to be here. I also want to say, though, that I still can't believe that I'm married to such an incredibly wonderful man. He grows on me everyday, and I liked him a lot to begin with. He really is my better half. I'm so thankful to be married to someone who loves the Lord so much, and is willing to give up his very small amount of free time to serve and to build the Kingdom of God. Not to mention, he's really, really good looking, and a great kisser. Oh, sorry...

And to round off this totally random post, I'm going to add some totally random pictures.