Up-diddily-date

Life has been busy..very busy, there are no two ways about it. Ahhh, but busy with what, you ask?!? Well, that is the funny thing, you can ask me what I do in a day and my answer will almost always be, "nothing out of the ordinary" but it sure seems that "nothing about of the ordinary" leaves me with so little time that I am lucky to get a shower in every 2-3 days and nice recreational activities such as blogging, well, this post has been in the works for about two weeks if that gives you a clue. Anyway, but I believe I finally have time to finish this...you see, I devised a plan and got up early this morning before the kids wake up. BWah-ha-ha-ha! Now I should be able to have a good chunk of time without needing to stop to wipe a nose or change a nappy or feed or play with puppets....you get the idea. So, for those of you who are actually interested, the following is our West family update:


First there was Halloween. It was great! Mike was in charge of a ward Halloween activity so we spent the evening manning carnival-type booths where kids could win candy. Tons of people participated and dressed up. The booths looked something like this:



Andrew and I looked a little like this:


ROAR!


Mike did a little of this:


Some people got a little crazy like this:


(Cute little Abby was dressed like a cow...that picture is refusing to post, don't know why. I'm super bummed!)

Next up were birthdays. Mike and I turned the big 28 within four days of each other. We threw wild parties that lasted all week consisting of this:





And this:


And this:


In the UK we celebrate Guy Fawkes day/Bonfire night. It's in celebration of a time when some imbecile named Fawkes tried, and failed, to blow up parliament. It's sort of like the Fourth of July to you and I. We decided to brave the frigid temperatures and went down to the beach where all the action was taking place. It was packed with people and looked a little like this:





Mike and Andrew did a little of this:


Their eyes sparkled just like this:


(Mine were mostly looking down to make sure a certain little cow was warm, didn't get any pictures of that)

Next up was Thanksgiving. WHAT!?!?! No, the UK does not celebrate this beloved holiday (for what I assume would be obvious reasons)but some of us Americans did! Yee-ha, wahoo, go git yer boots! We spent an evening with great friends (all Americans with the exception of Mike and our friend Gemma--she is from Orkney, don't know where that is? Google it, it's awesome!)

The Sorber's provided the gathering place and the Turkey (fresh from a farm). It tasted DELICIOUS and looked a little like this:



The table looked like this:


The people looked like this:




Good times, good food, good company!!!

Well, the weather decided to turn on us and now the ground that once looked like this:




Now looks like this:


And this:


It makes me go a little crazy. I hate being cooped inside. I hate letting Andrew watch lots of TV. So it has driven us to do a little of this:







And this:


And this:


And this:


And this:


Some of those things make Abby feel like this:


Or this:


But sometimes we get a little adventurous and do some of this:


Once Andrew's wee friend Alex cam over and they had a BLAST doing this:




And this:


So, even though the weather makes me feel a little like this:


We ultimately do our best to have lots of this:

Are we one of "THOSE" families?!?!

Check it out. I've had many people comment on this, and I definitley agree. My two kids look sooooo much alike! It really makes me smile, I like that I look at Abby and can see another version (although slightly more dainty) of wee Andrew.

It makes me wonder though. You know how there are certain families out there who all look the exact same. Like you could know the majority of the family sans an older bro or sis or something. Then one day you are walking down the street and notice the never before introduced older bro and/or sis and know immediatley that they are "one of the Smith's" or "Hansen's" or whatever. Well, maybe we are going to be like that. Hmmm....I like it!

Life these days

HI Well, a post is sorely overdue so here it is.

Life is good. To name a few things it currently includes: messy lunches, runny noses, loads of nappies, constant laundry, on-the-fly dinners, overcast skies, pretty fall leaves, squeaky cries, toddler yells, Baby Einstein, ruffly bums, lucky 2-minute showers, busy (but hard-working and very cute) husband, tickle giggles, gassy smiles, chilly walks, good friends, church callings, piano lessons, a little more sleep at nights, milk and more milk.

We are definitley getting used to our sweet wee Abby. In fact, just the other day Andrew came in from playing outside (mike had a day off and stayed in with Abby) and when we walked into the living room Andrew (un-prompted) walked over to Abby sweetly said, "Hi baby!" and gave her a kiss on the head. YES! Although most of the time he doesn't seem to notice her, I took that as a good sign and a far cry from his initial statement of, "DON'T WANT IT!"

Abby is a doll and seriously the sweetest little thing ever! She does really well at night, only getting up once these last few days. She and Andrew have both had nasty colds and it's been pretty sad, but it's looking like things are FINALLY on the mend.

We are definitley in fall weather and can tell winter is around the corner. The scenery is fantastically beautiful and we love to go out for walk and play in the leaves. However, it's really starting to get chilly as well. In fact, I even pulled out the big winter coats the other day, sigh, guess it's that time. However, until its sub temperatures or blizzarding outside we intend to get out as much as possible, it's hard to stay away from such breathtaking scenery.

Well...here are some pictures of the West on-goings. Enjoy!

Andrew Loves to play in the fall leaves




Oh how I love her hair...please don't fall out!











Heh, heh...Mike was changing Abby and then Andrew decided it would be fun to climb on Daddy!










This is Andrew being all-boy as he walks around out local farm picking strawberries.


The following pictures were taken near our flat. It sort of chronicles our normal walking route. Sure is pretty!









Last but not least, i also need to mention that Mom came to help out for a week. It was sooooooo helpful and gave me a much needed rest! Plus it was fantastic to have adult conversation during the day! Mom, I can't thank you enough for coming, you know hoe much we all loved having you here...wish it could happen more often!

(NOTE: I tried uploading more pictures, some with my mom in them and the uploader thing went on the fritz. I don't have patience to keep trying so sorry but that is it for now! :0) )