Flashback to Summer

A few nights ago, I was rooting around in the dark corners of my laptop's hard drive looking for some wayward track photos. While I did (eventually) find the shots the yearbook kidlets needed, I also found a few unposted photos from my summer adventures. Those photos brought back some warm memories on a chilly evening.

I know I should be a little embarrassed that I took so many photos of snow cones but, in my defense, they were the most amazing snow cones on the face of the earth. And even though I wasn't as brave as Jenny, who tried flavors like rose, basil, or roasted pepper, I still dream about the cucumber and Juneberry.

And since my dear sweet older sister managed to procure some extra peach and lime syrups for me when Yuki closed for the summer, I will get to relive some of those delicious moments a few more times.

And from mouth-watering sweets, we go a sweetie with a very watery mouth: Alton.

I don't know how I made it though the whole summer without posting about his serious drooling issues. If Jenny would have let him play outside during the summer, Utah's drought problems would have been solved in a week.

I also found some fun reminders of a trip to the big city rodeo with my Idaho niblets. Kenna and Kylie are big rodeo fans...

... and Bubba loves rodeo nachos!

I even found evidence of some summertime craftiness: Max had a summer homework assignment to make a puppet he could use to introduce himself on the first week of school. He requested my help to make a Doctor Who themed puppet, and this is what I came up with: A dalek!

Who says summer homework is a horrible idea?

And how did I never get around to posting this year's fair winnings?

And then there was my fair and rodeo, which my two newest sisters-in-law were able to attend for the first time. They didn't mind the big, smelly animals at all...

...which shouldn't have been such a surprise considering they willingly married them.

And then there was this photo...which probably should have stayed buried in the dark corners of my laptop's hard drive.

Even though it was fun spend a little time basking in the glow of summer memories, I am very contented to settle into fall... Because this fall, Alton stopped drooling long enough to learn to make THIS FACE:

The changing of the seasons is a wonderful thing.

I can't wait to see what tricks Al learns this winter. 

One Big Happy Family

 For the second year in a row, our official family photos will be wedding photos. With folks spread out from Buffalo, NY to Oakland, CA, it takes an occasion of eternal significance to get us all together.

But while the whole family was able to attend the actual wedding at the Salt Lake City Temple, not everyone was able to make it to the Idaho Falls reception the next day.

Original Jenny was only able to bring two of her half-dozen offspring; her sweet hubby John stayed home with the rest. Mikey and New Jenny were also unable to attend the IF shin-dig.

Mikey's absence threatened to derail our plans for photos of the Original H Family... until Ben, the Super Photographer, came up with a Plan B.

Ben is Spencer's brother-in-law and husband to my blogging buddy Kar. Creativity runs in their family (for proof, check out Kar's blog, Here! )

Spencer grabbed Kristina's most littlest of brothers, Ben snapped the photos, I e-mailed some shots of a tux-clad Mikey, and then Ben worked his Photoshop magic.

The result was priceless.
I am seriously recommending that my parents use this as their Christmas card photo this year.

The photos are extra fun for anyone who knows Mikey, who happens to be freakishly tall... and incredibly proud of being freakishly tall.

The moral of the story is, "Never, ever skip out on family photo opportunities."
Especially not when you have spent the last 8 years flaunting your excessive height over your older, shorter brothers.

Karma can be rough... especially when Karma has access to Photoshop.

Arizona Report

I am ashamed to admit that I didn't take a lot of photos during our four-day trip to Arizona for Mikey and New Jenny's wedding. Here are a few that I did take, and I promise to post links to Jenny, Becky, and Brianna's posts as soon as they are uploaded.

Here is what you need to know right now...

The entire family was there. Spencer and Brianna won the prize for traveling the farthest.


And Warren and Spencer deserve some sort of recognition for planning an awesome "Avenger's" bachelor party.


All of the Utah niblets were present.

As were the Idaho niblets.

Including Bubba, and Bubba-licious was a hungry, hungry baby,

There was a bad motel (if you ever need to know where NOT to stay in Flagstaff, let me know).

And there was a very nice hotel.

There was late night pizza, candy, soda, and non-mamma-approved movies (Ironman!) with Grandma, Pa, Mindy, and Brianna.

There was a wonderful "rehearsal" dinner/pool party, attended by both families and a few goats.

And then there was a 98 degree afternoon at the Mesa Temple.

Which was followed by a quick dinner at an air conditioned stake center. The dinner was followed by a beautifully decorated outdoor reception... at which I didn't get any great photos because I was busy feeding Bubba cheesecake and Italian soda.

And there was also a pretty wonderful marriage/sealing.

But the best part of the trip came after that.

As the newest Mr. and Mrs. H exited the temple, Milo ran up the steps and into his beloved uncle's arms.
It was so cute and sweet... until Milo turned around and waved to the rest of the wedding guests... waved with one finger.

His middle finger.

Yep. That one.

On the steps of the temple.

The sweet "ooohhhhs" and "ahhhhhs" quickly turned to gasps of shock and awe... and lots of laughter.

The newly minted three-year-old, Milo, didn't quite understand what the fuss was all about. He figures any finger is as good as another. Luckily, the newest member of our family is a really good sport.

Welcome to the family, Jenny!

Wedding in Mesa, Honeymoon in...Scranton?

My tallest, snarkiest, second-most baby-est of brothers is getting married this weekend in the Mesa, Arizona LDS Temple.

My newest sister-in-law's name is Jennifer, but she goes by Jenny. That posed a bit of a problem when she and Mikey started "getting serious", because we already have a Jenny in the family. At first, we tried to distinguish between the two using the titles "Young Jenny" and "Old Jenny". Then we decided that system might annoy "Old Jenny" so, because we are so compassionate, we switched to "New Jenny" and "Old Jenny".

It's better because this distinction focuses on order of introduction into the family instead of on age. 

Have I mentioned that Old Jenny is a really good sport?

So is New Jenny. She would have to be in order to be excited about spending her first weeks of married life in Scranton, PA.

New Jenny is also a good sport about marrying Mikey, and not just because he is snarky. As you may recall from the very first sentence of this post, Mikey is also tall.

Very tall.

Freakishly tall.

Bless New Jenny's petite heart.

But even with the height difference, I think they make a pretty cute couple.

Congrats, Mikey and New Jenny!

And thanks for giving me a reason to visit Arizona for the first time.

I'll look forward to visiting you guys again... when you get back from Scranton.

An Open Letter to the Girlfriends of My Baby Brothers

Hello ladies.

After spending a week at my parents' home with your significant others (a.k.a. my brothers Greg and Mikey), I thought I should drop you a line.

First of all, allow me to express my appreciation for your willingness to hang out with my two favorite dorks. I have never met the two of you, but I have met my brothers (on several occasions), and can therefore assume that you are both very patient and exceptionally charitable.
But thanking you for dating my brothers isn't the only reason that I am writing to you today. I also wanted to take this opportunity to point out some of their good qualities and useful talents that you may not have had an opportunity to experience during your interactions with Mikey and Greg there at BYU.

I'm sure Greg has demonstrated his wonderful non-alcoholic bar tending skills on more than one occasion. And you might have seen his dedicated work ethic at the BYU bookstore.

I know that you have witnessed Mikey's magnificent musical skills as he played with the cougar bands. And his most obvious talent, being tall, is kind of hard to miss.

You must have noticed their ability to focus on video games for super-human lengths of time. And I also think it is a pretty safe bet that their roommates have filled you in on their other impressive skill: Snoring at levels that can be measured by the Richter Magnitude Scale.

But wait... there's more!
Greg is a diligent worker even when a paycheck isn't involved. The week before Christmas he willingly shoveled snow so his exhausted father wouldn't have too. (Yes Mom, he is wearing your sweatshirt.)

While his little brother was shoveling, Mikey was doing dishes so that his mother would come home from a long day of teaching to a clean kitchen. (Yes, Dad, he is wearing a golf shirt with basketball shorts. No, I don't know why.)

They also spent a lot of time helping their eldest brother work on the new family room in his basement. I bet you didn't realize just how helpful and manly they can be. But I think the real selling point for both boys is their childcare skills. Mike and Greg have some real fatherhood potential.

Greg was so great to wrestle with Bubba over the break. He even swallowed his pride and let Bubba win. Probably.

And Mikey is always willing to provide Ruby with free transportation. Of course, she has to take altitude sickness pills before and after each ride, but it is the thought that counts, right?

How many guys do you know who can paint nails? Greg has been practicing his mani-pedi skills on Kylie and Kenna. If you ask him nicely, he may even hook you up with French tips.

Mikey may be a trombone whiz, but (with the help of his very dedicated teacher Milo) he is also developing his guitar skills. One day he may even be able to sing Justin Bieber songs as well as Milo.

So ladies, I hope you realize what "catches" you have landed. I may be a little biased, but I do think they are pretty decent guys. Let me know if you have any other questions about either boy. I can also provide you with medical records and a list of references, if needed.

Sincerely,

Your Boyfriends' Second Favorite Sister

P.S. Forget what I said about the snoring. I was probably just exaggerating. And there have been amazing advancements in recent years in the field of ear plug technology. And there is no rule that says ear plugs and/or nasal strips can't be added to a gift registry.

Just saying.

Remember How I Was Just Saying How Safe It Is To Visit Me?

My sister Jenny was almost talked into letting her kids (even the ones she likes) come to visit me during fair week this summer. Of course, she was in the process of setting some conditions and ground rules. I wasn't going to be allowed to take them to Shoshone Falls, to the river, or to the pool. And the fair food, rides, and animals bigger than a breadbox were going to be off limits. And they were going to have to wear helmets at all times, but still... they were going to get to visit.

Then Mikey, my second most babiest of brothers decided to visit my cute little valley so he could visit one of his cute little friends.

Mikey has been living with Jenny this summer, so she has kind of adopted into her sphere of psychotic worriness and expressed concerns about the possibility of Mikey participating in any normal southern Idaho pastimes (i.e. hiking, sugar beet harvesting, cliff jumping, bull riding, rattlesnake juggling, etc). Hence, Mikey became a very tall test case for a visit from Jenny's actual kids.


He had only been in my valley for about 19 hours, and only out of my sight for about two of those, when I jokingly sent him a text about Jenny putting his name on the temple prayer roll.

This is the text he sent me in reply:


I thought he was kidding.... until he walked back through my door several hours later with a head wound, which resulted in this text from Jenny:

Now, before this post goes any further, I think I need to make a few things clear. First of all, Mikey didn't get shot. Yes, he was injured by a gun, but not by the end of a gun that usually injures people. Secondly, he is fine... or at least as close to fine as he has ever been. And third, chronicling his adventure using nature photos was his idea, inspired by his great desire not to have me following him around taking photos. The decision to use photos of the animal he most closely resembles, however, was my idea.
Mikey's visit started out well and good and head injury-less. In fact, my biggest concern (up until his run-in with the gun) was that he was having trouble nesting on my couch that had turned out to be about a foot too short for his freakishly tall frame.

It may have taken him a while, but he finally found a comfortable position in which to snooze.

Of course, he didn't get a ton of time to sleep before I woke him up for a little 6 a.m. lap swimming. But he was a really good sport about the early hour, cold water, and the high rate of accidental consumption of drowned insects.

Luckily, he hadn't swallowed enough drowned bugs to effect his appetite because my dearest darling friends Bill, Valerie, and Spencer had prepared an amazing Brazilian lunch for us that afternoon (Thanks again, most wonderful Atkins family!).

Of course, while the swimming and the eating were wonderful, the purpose from Mikey's visit to my adopted homeland was to play basketball one last time with his friend Kari before she leaves for the MTC.

But before Mikey had a chance to show off his skills with a ball, he had to show off his lack of skills with a gun. Having forgotten that his only experience shooting was as a 14 year-old boys scout, Mikey was unprepared for the power of an actual gun. With his very first shot, Mikey's face became very well acquainted with the butt of the rifle, resulting in a broken pair of sunglasses, a large bruise, and three holes in his head.

I thought the situation was fairly entertaining and bolgworthy... until my valley's per capita gun ownership became the newest reason why my sister won't let her actual kids come hang out.

Thankfully, Mikey is going to come back up again about a month before the fair, giving me another chance to prove that visits to the Magic Valley don't have to end with blood and tears...

... as long as everyone follows Jenny's helmet rule, that is.