Davey Baby turns 5!

2 weeks:

8 months:

5 years:
He woke to find a fancy castle and knight set.


Then spent the day at his favorite place, Chuck E Cheese...

Things I never want to forget about 5 year old David:

• I've been told on several occasions that David is "the coolest kid ever." He makes everyone laugh.
• He's such a pleasant child. Until he's hungry. And then watch out.
• The other day at Hires he was upset because we didn't order him a hot dog and a cheeseburger. We finally did and he ate both plus french fries plus part of a root beer float. The kid can pound it.
• He's a very selfless child. He always lets Will have the first turn.
• When he grows up he wants to be "an astronaut...no a hang glider...no a fireman." No doubt there will be adrenalin involved.
• Preschool story that is sooo David: His teacher, Grandma Raynee, asked him to do an assignment that he didn't want to do. (Not unusual.) He turned to a friend and said, "The witch is making me color this." Raynee responded, "Oh David, it hurts my feelings when you call me a witch." Then he turned on the charm (with an innocent smile and big blue eyes)..."But Grandma Raynee, some witches are good witches."
• He changes his clothes no less than 3 times/day.
• He's very independent. He seldom asks for help with anything.
  

Love you Davey Baby!!!!

Excited

Is it possible to die from excitement?

Because that may just happen at the Meeker home Christmas morning when the kidlets wake to find this under the tree:

Chocolate Labradoodle.
Totally, totally delicious.

I think I may die of excitement just anticipating their excitement.

How many more days til Christmas?

.

Christmas as it Should Be

Anyone else dread this time of year? Am I the only scrooge out there?



Of course there are many things that I love about the holidays. Of course there are. But all the hustle and bustle sure wears me out.



Well, I was having one of those mornings. There were a million things running through my mind...projects to do, things to buy, parties to attend, blah, blah, blah. I was grouchy. Then I walked into the living and found this:

This is the kids' nativity set. They can move the pieces whenever they want. And it just so happens that on this morning they were arranged with Jesus in the center and all the other people/creatures circling him. Focusing on him. The wise men had fallen down to worship him.

And it gave me pause. Okay, maybe I was focusing on the wrong things. Isn't this what the season is really about? Oh come let us adore HIM.

I must remember.

All Things Autumn

Gardner Village

Tess, Tate, Nora, Will

Tess & Harrison

Nora & Will

Our island girl Tate.
My bro Wyatt is going to med school in the Caribbean. Tate came back with one stellar tan.

Halloween Decorations

Halloween

Tess as Hermione

Will's Mike Tyson look.

The black eye is makeup.

The darkened teeth are not.

(the result of a fall a few months ago)

Cousins

Nora and I hit Princess Disney on Ice for a mommy-daughter date.

And no autumn would be complete without David's head needing to be stitched back together.

This time he fell off bleachers while we were watching a soccer game at the high school.

Family Photo Shoot

This one is my favorite. A very accurate depiction of our family.

Tess looking at me annoyedly, David=goofball, Will & Nora mid-shout, and Nate & I smiling obliviously.

Pictures taken by the ultra talented April.

Fixing up the House

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Operation: Bye Bye Pink House

Daddy and his helpers

The Rest of the Summer: A Photo Summary

Tess goes to Puppet Camp.

Nora attacks Dad with the mace at Lagoon.

(We won the mace because the dude guessed that Nate was 29 years old. Actual age = 41)


YW Wilderness Camp


Youth Conference

4th of July

Grandma Conna's Farm

Silver Lake with Mead cousins

Sarah comes to visit.

Sarah is my friend/former YW from Philly.

Here's a story she told me about almost getting mugged...

Sarah: I was walking down the street and this guy tried to grab my purse.

me: Holy cow- did he get it?

Sarah: Um...No. I turned around and poked him in the eye.

And that is why I love Sarah.

Ensign Peak

(David chose to hike in flip-flops.)

More hikes.

Donut Falls

Red Butte Garden

Nora does mom's hair.

(Again and again and again.....and again.)

Third grade begins!

Tess with her cute friend Grace.

15 Year Reunion

Lovely ladies from the Oly Class of '94.

There's actually a pretty good story that goes along with this picture. Wanna hear it? Well alright. Here's to hoping that no men read my blog...and I'm pretty sure they don't...except for Nate (but he's already heard this story...and rolled his eyes at all the appropriate moments).

So just before this reunion I was at youth conference with our ward. While there, one of my gals got a horrendous picture of my backside in a swimsuit. People- it was awful. I truly looked to be about 500 pounds. She showed me the photo and in my best no-nonsense voice (with some threatening undertones) I told her to "DELETE IT. Immediately."

(Good golly- I hope she really did. What if it's still out there??)

Anywho, when I got home I was still a little annoyed about this picture and decided that surely, surely the reality could not be as bad as the picture made it appear. So I again donned my swimsuit and asked Tess to snap a few pictures of my backside from several different angles. "Mom, why am I taking pictures of your butt?" (Cringe. "Tess- it's 'bum' not 'butt' and I need these photos for research purposes. And Tess, always remember, it is much more important to be beautiful on the inside than the outside.") Super pep talk, right?

Well, I'm happy to report that while Tess' photos were by no means pretty, they weren't nearly as bad as Erica's shot from youth conference. Erica must have searched out the worst possible angle. Sneaky gal.

Fast forward to that evening at my 15 year reunion. Time for the girls shot. We hand our cameras off to our old friend Jared. Luckily, luckily I decide last minute that I want to change one of the settings on my camera...because when I took it back from him, low and behold, there is a giant (yes, closeup) shot of my rear end on the screen. Awesome. "Hi Jared, I haven't seen you in years, but here's a nice juicy picture of my tooshie for your viewing pleasure."

I'm so smart sometimes.

(And no, I don't think he saw the picture. At least he didn't act like he did. And if indeed he did- I hope to never find out.)