Annie Writes---

So, this is probably the longest that anyone has went without writing on their blog...
I really like the idea of a blog and I would write on here every chance I got, the problem is I really never get a chance!

Fast track catch up!!!

Sophia is 2, loves baby dolls, princesses, and making a mess faster than mommy can clean it up!
Chad has been working for the local paper for over a year, and I have been working for the school district for over a year (not teaching, but working as an instructional assistant that has a teaching certificate and two years teaching experience!)!
Oliver (YES, there is a child #2 in the mix now!) was just born a week after Sophia's birthday!

Pictures are hard for us to post because of the lack of internet, but hopefully someday the blog will be because of Sophie and Oliver! Chad and I love our two kids very much and we are extremely proud of how cute they are!

Hopefully I will get a chance to write on here in less than a year! If not happy holidays (all of them)!

Annie

Joining the fight to 'stache out cancer

Last Sunday — which is in reference to Oct. 12 — I shaved off my grizzly bear-like beard, leaving my face a blank canvas. So, since I had a new found freedom to express my face however I may, I've decided to join the fight! Will you all join me?

To help me fight cancer with my whiskers, click the banner at the beginning of the post, or log onto www.mustachesvscancer.org and look up "Stan 'Stachington" (that's me). Once you've found me, you can help me 'stache out cancer by sponsoring my mustache with a generous donation, should you feel inclined to do so.

My not-so-'stachey mustache has actually already raised $5, thanks to my friend, and fellow mustache-growing cancer killer, Chris Brown. Chris can also be found on the site under the name "Stachey McStacherson."

I'll make sure to keep you up to date with all of the mustachioed fun. The mustache-a-thon I'm doing this for continues through November 25 — just in time to have the ultimate flavor saver for Thanksgiving. In the meanwhile, here are some possible mustaches I painstakingly rendered to show how I might look mustachioed.

Oh yeah, the illustration is a field of mustaches ready for harvest. If only going green and growing a mustache were so simple...

Where's my cellphone?

Sunday night Sophie was playing with my cellular phone with Annie, and she got it opened up and put it up to her ear. Annie kept saying, "Hello, who's on the phone."

After a while, of Annie saying hello, Sophie started waving, too. It was a great time. She was being so silly all night long.

Sophie was also being a goof with Annie, waving at the door with no one even there. She had just stopped waving, and was covering her mouth while laughing in this shot.

I like this picture of her playing with one of her favorite toys — the stacking rings. More I like how she is sitting than the fact that she's so good at getting the rings of and on. When I was younger, and still to this day, I notoriously sit that same way — with one foot under my bum and the other leg up and against my chest.

She loves stacking and unstacking the donuts, it's fun to watch her try to figure out which donuts go where.

When Sophie was done playing and being silly, she just got up and walked into the kitchen to do something else for a while.

SS Homecoming

Friday last was South Sevier high School's homecoming game/senior night against Beaver. The Rams came out on top 15-0, even though it was extremely cold and both teams had a hard time holding onto the ball. For a feeling of the cold, check the above picture — Sophia has a beanie, a hood, and another winter hat on top of that to keep her head from freezing.

Dillon Bishoff pulled down the first TD of the game in the back corner of the endzone. He also kicked a 21-yard field goal in the third to seal the deal.

This is just a random picture of Orion Wilson handing off to Zach Dustin, who almost always plows it up the middle for small yards.

The Rams defense carried the team to the victory, this one — I'm not sure who the defender is — shows one of the cornerbacks taking out a Beaver receiver in mid air during the fourth. Scott Mathie led the SSHS defense with 10 tackles and a sack. I know Kristen will be proud.

Name taggage

Erin did this on her and Weston's blog recently and — though it is obviously somewhat geared toward the opposite gender — I thought it would be interesting to see how some of it turned out. Here are my answers:

YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)-  

Fritz Focus

YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)- 

Cookie Dough Chocolate Chip

YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)- 

c-hun (whoaa, little on the feminine side...)

YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)- 

Red Rhino
YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)- 

Stan Richfield
YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)- 

Hunch
YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink)- 

The Black Dr. Pepper
YOUR NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)- 

Gerald Vernal
YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names)- 

G Johns (kind of a stretch — my father only has a middle initial, my mom doesn't have one, so I used her maiden name as the last name.)
YOUR TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)- 

Swindle St. George
YOUR CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)- 

Raspberry Socksy
YOUR HIPPIE NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)-

Skip Willow (I missed breakfast)
YOUR ROCK STAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”)- 

The Coloring Outside The Lines Fair Weather Tour

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.

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.

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:

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.