25 September 2008

Her Daddy's Girl...




... or at least I like to think she always is.

This morning while we were getting out the door for the day, Sophie found my headphones I left on the floor and plugged into the computer. I figured wince she is a bit of a music nut (she insists on watching music videos while she eats — but she is alright watching Back to the Future on Saturday mornings — and usually wants a particular video: Mika - "Lollipop"), that I would put the earphones on to see what she would do.



There was something playing, but I didn't really check to see what it was, I just wanted to see what my munchkin would do with the headphones. At first she actually was digging the tunes, and was dancing a bit. But pretty quickly her dislike of all things put on her head got the best of her and she ripped them off, and we continued our morning routine.

But I did manage to pull off a few shots of Sophie Lou being her daddy's little booger.


22 September 2008

Happy Birthday Annie




Today I get to celebrate one of the best things to ever happen in my life. Annie turned 24 today She's officially in her mid-twenties. I love her to bits and am so glad she chose me over a million other people to spend her life with.

To celebrate, we made a weekend of it. Saturday night we went to South China in Richfield as a family and had a great dinner. Sophie even came a long and was really good — until Annie wouldn't let her eat crackers with the wrapper still on them.



Annie woke up with a terrible headache and was really dizzy Sunday morning, so we all stayed home, and I took care of sophia so Annie could get some rest and get feeling better. She took a three hour nap and woke up feeling much better, so we went over to her parents' house for Sunday dinner. Annie's mom made navajo tacos, which are one of Annie's favorite food in the whole world — that and Chinese.


That evening we got the house all cleaned up — I even sprayed down the front of the house, especially the front porch where the birds were nesting a couple weeks ago — and we (by we I mean mostly Annie, but I helped a very little bit) made two cheesecakes and had family over to eat cake with us. Both of our parents and Jessica and Trent came over for ice cream and cheesecake, a weird combination, I know, but it was really good. 

The silly combination was my fault, as I didn't ask Annie what kind of cake she wanted before I asked my mom to bring some ice cream over. It was still a fun night, and we have more than one cheesecake left over — we had planned on a few more people from my family possibly showing up, but they had other engagements.


Then this morning I gave Annie her present that I bought more than a month early — Rock Band for our Playstation 2. Now, before you think I went out and bought something I wanted for my wife's b-day, remember who we're talking about here. Buying the PS2 in the first place was Annie's idea, and I probably would have settled for Guitar Hero or something. Annie, on the other hand, loves the idea of having a game where she can use drums AND do guitar, so I thought it was a perfect gift.

Tonight Annie's mom is doing dinner and presents for her. Exactly what that will entail I am not yet sure.


I love you, Annie Lou. You're the best wife ever, and you're the most loving mother to our daughter. You could never know how much you give to my life.

Happy Birthday.


18 September 2008

Shipping off




Yesterday we took my younger brother, Gregory, to the Missionary Training Center in Provo to send him off on his two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He's headed to Ventura, California, and has been pretty excited about it since he found out in July.


Sending him off was one of those bittersweet moments when you're super happy he's doing something for the right reasons and for a good cause, but you're sad to see him go and not get to see him for the next 24 months at least.


He had a bit of a time getting his tag on, as his jacket pocket was still sewn shut. Greg said he unpicked part of it, but it was still shut, so he assumed it was a fake pocket. The lady that gave him his essentials and his badge at the door also handed him an unpicker and told him to go open up his pocket so he could put on his name tag.


Of course everybody but me shed tears — because I have to be Mr. Tough Guy, you know — with Greg shedding the most, of course. He's a good egg, and I know he will be able to make the most of his mission and come back better for having gone out to serve.


Good luck Gregory.


Just for fun, here's a picture (below) of Greg living up his youthful days before it ended a couple days later when he got his call and started to seriously prepare for this moment.


Annie, Sophia and I went up to Provo Tuesday night to avoid rushing and to get in a little shopping while we were back in the big city area — since we've become such the country bumpkins these days living in Austin — Population: more cows than people.


We stayed at Annie's grandparents' house — Gene and Elaine Carson — and though we got there late, I found time to mess around, taking a few pictures with a nice flash — something new for me.




Sophia was a little doll as usual, and, though she was tired and shy when we first got there, she opened up pretty quickly. The Carson's house is very big and open, and Sophia thought it was the greatest. It's not like she hasn't been there dozens of times in the past, but it has been quite a while.


If you know Sophie, you should know that she has this thing for dogs. She loves dogs more than anything in the whole world (I'm backposting again, give me some time and I'll give you some photographic proof). At the Carsons there is a big stuffed lion and tiger on a walkway that goes across the front of the house upstairs that you can see from the living room. Every time anyone would say antyhing about a dog, she would point up at the stuffed lion and get excited. It was so cute.




Anyway, just for fun, here are a few more pictures I took over the course of the trip:











03 September 2008

Greg's Parting Party of Sorts




Greg had his farewell thing, which is no longer called a farewell, Sunday, and everybody was over. We also had fun just being with the whole family at my mom's house, enjoying my mom and dad's new deck they just had put in this month.



Sophia's favorite part was playing with Molly, Travis and Kate's dog. Sophia thinks dogs are the best thing in the world, as you can probably tell by the pictures. 




She giggles and giggles any time she even gets near one, and has even learned the difference between "dogs" and "puppies" acording to Annie's mom (Dennyce has Yorkies — "puppies" — and a big spaniel named Hank — the "dog" — at her house).


Here are some more photos from that day:





Sophia loves her Uncle Travis and Aunt Kate.






I love how these pictures of Sophia and Brynlie turned out. Two cousins having fun.