giving thanks

"bubble gum bubble gum in a dish..." the little ones deciding who was going to be IT for tag

Goodbye Linds, thanks for coming to my house

I got a spend a lot of time with Claire Bear this weekend- she is a darling!

The women washing dishes at our service project

Karli holding Leah at Jacob's house where we had appetizers

Alek helped Bruce with dinner

Shoes galore because there were people galore

Andrew Dale finshing off some pre-thanksgiving mashed potatoes I made for Sunday dinner after Stephanie and Andrew put my new table together

thanksgiving palooza

We spent Thanksgiving Day together traveling all over town for a progressive dinner (pictures might come later). This pictures was taken after out little service project. We had a lot of fun together. It was great having the Farmers, Lindsay and Andrew in town. Next year it's back to Fruitland!

ezra, my new crush

I don't really get crushes, well not real ones at least. But this weekend I met Ezra Benjamin Clifford for the first time and let me tell you, he is darling. How could one not help but fall in love? So what that I had to lure the little guy to love me back by letting him play with my cell phone and camera (things that are usually off limit to him), taking him on walks outside and trading M&M's for kisses. Sometimes drastic times call for drastic measures! P.S. He loves the Farrar whistle and anytime I would do it he would look around for me...can't wait until next time we get to play. Check out Ezra's family blog that his mom updates by using the link on the side titled "cliffords".

more pictures from the weekend

just hanging out at the Cliffords

Leah and her GG

Leah in the car, on the way home

Leah on the way to Spokane, look how much hair she is getting

Amy came in from Arizona, it has been a couple of years since we last saw each other

papa's funeral

all of the boy cousins

all of the girl cousins

Grandma Jackie with all of her grandchildren and most their spouses and children. Missing are Jake, Sam and Lizzy Briscoe (Amy's family) and little Ezra wasn't at the funeral, but there will be a lot more pictures of him on the blog.

Papa's funeral was of course very sad for all of us. We love him dearly. But we had a great reunion and I think we even grew tighter as a family. I am so grateful that families can be forever.

meet the abstons

This is my Papa and Grandma, my mom's parents. I love them so much. Papa's life on earth ended today. Grandma is now alone. Goodbye Papa, I miss you.

halloween 2006

The Wrights had a big party at their house with a band and everything, we all dressed up even though some of us might not have been too excited about that part. I, of course, was an Angel! The Baby was a Care Bear and went to her first Ward Trunk-or-Treat. The Garden Gnome and the Ipod Shadow went to a big dance party...another year, another Halloween.

ten fourteen

This was the first time in 5 years that I was home in Washington for my birthday. We celebrated by going to one of my favorite places "The Farm". The party also joined us and we got pumpkins, rode a hay ride, and took lots of pictures. It was a wonderful birthday. My family surprised me that night with one of the best presents ever, but I'll wait to tell that story....

why saying goodbye was so hard

cousin eric

Eric Ellis....for those readers who don't know him, he really is this handsome. You can't even see his whole face and it is obvious that he is sweet on the eyes. I have been friends with Eric for four years or so and I love him very much. He is a good listener, funny, smart and as already stated very handsome. I just got off the phone with him and boy was it so good to talk to him. Eric, I needed that. Thanks for listening to me....I hope you rocked your quiz. P.S. Guess what everybody I got myself a job (as my Mom likes to call it "a career")! Now I am for real a grown-up.

playing catch up

I have tons of pictures to share, though none are of my new place (stay tuned for all pictures, I am having some uploading issues). I still need to unpack a little before any pictures are taken. I have been back in Washington just over one week. I am doing well, I am lonely at times for friends and familiarity back in Provo. What has been nice is that I have talked to a lot of people since I left. I need those conversations to survive. I am just pretending I am really busy so I can't get out to visit anyone, talking on the phone and emails are the only things I have time for...I have done an okay job at tricking my heart thus far. It has been fun with my family and friends here. It is great being able to spend more time with my four friends and their kids! I have been on a few interviews, nothing yet but there is one job I am sure I'll land. I am doing a few temp. gigs in the meantime. My new ward is fabulous, what it lacks in outstanding talks and lessons (like my old ward) it makes up in the kindness of the members. I met at least 10 new people on Sunday, all of them coming up to me. I had a birthday, another year older. I don't like being old, but the day was super fun. I'll share more about that with pictures later. I love you all. I miss those of you who I am too busy to see right now. I might have some openings in the beginning of the year so get ready.

heartbreaking

I think my heart is breaking....

just the three of us

Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?
Sometimes you want to go Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same.
You wanna be where everybody knows Your name.
You wanna go where people know, people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows your name.

sights of boston

The USS Constitution

Harvard Square in Cambridge (we spent a lot of time here)

The Freedom Trail marker thing...I only walked on the Freedom trail a little, but I think it is cool. And the Bostonians were extremely helpful when I couldn't figure it out.

Bunker Hill

Paul Revere's house

One of my favorite shots from aboard our harbor cruise

Boston

The State Capitol Building

The Old Granary Cemetery

Quincy Market where Team Chowda had team meetings at least twice a day