What's so funny/sad?

A year ago, the family reunion...sibling lunch. All nine of us. It was fun. A little too fun.

What's so funny?


The left behind parents, spouses and kids...they don't really get this "sibling lunch" thing we do. And maybe it IS kinda rude not to invite anyone else. Okay, to blatantly exclude everyone else. That's more like it. But when we go, and when I look at our pictures and think back on the hour we all sat around the table, not really talking about anything special or even reminiscing all that much, I'm so glad we did it.

Please ignore all the fillings in my teeth, that I just now pointed out to you and you otherwise may not have noticed.

I'm laughing just looking at the pictures.

And a year later...

Family reunion...sibling lunch.

What's so sad?

This one here, is our third "sibling outing." The first time, we were pretty sure it would never happen again, though we all vowed it would.

Oh, my goodness!

What could have happened?

Maybe we're all thinking how much we'll miss our Ethan as he embarks on his 2 year mission to Croatia. He leaves December 16th!! Our little baby brother...
Well...
Stay tuned for...What's so scary?
or What on earth is that smell?
Haven't decided yet, but it won't be for a couple years since Ethan will be gone and all nine of us won't be together again 'til he's back. We WILL miss you, Ethan...but we're all a bit jealous as well. :)

I love my sibs.

Halloween in December

Okay, we aren't really having Halloween in December. But I'm finally posting about it in December.

Here's the wonderful picture of our crew.

Justin- his idea (sort of.) But I actually found the lamp shade, much to Justin's surprise and delight.

Ian, the duct tape man. My little brother Ethan made a whole suit of duct tape once. This is the perfect costume for Ian who is always stealing and using the duct tape.

Thanks to many dress up birthday parties Emily was invited to the last couple of months, we found this Zombie costume really worked for her. Don't you agree?

Of course! Duh!

Army guy. He stuck with this idea from the first and was thrilled with it til the end. :) Phew! Love when they are easy to please.

Happy Halloween!
ahem...

Mom, my neck hurts

The prefered tv watching spot.

My neck hurts just watching him.

Things to do...

I've got things to do! I've got laundry to wash, dry, (okay...I do have machines for this) and fold, hang and put away (no machines for that though). I have bathrooms to clean and cars to clean out. Things that need to be done before our trip to CA! Packing. That has to be done, but after laundry. And of course, it would be ideal if I could clean the carpets before we leave....RIGHT before we leave so it has time to dry without us walking on it. That is a great idea.

So, what am I doing?

Sitting here, wasting time on the computer. I've perused Facebook, Pioneer Woman and, still not feeling like tackling the "things to do," I'm posting on my blog.

Now if I could only think of something to say...

I want to be a clever blogger...but it's just not happening.

Toy Catalog

The Target toy catalog arrived yesterday. It's occupied Garrett and Owen longer than the actual toys pictured in the catalog would if they had them.

They are perusing it, asking me if 14 is a lot, talking about what toy they like best and why one is cool and one is not.

If only I could just get them a bunch of catalogs for Christmas....

Best Halloween Movie

Daniel introduced this one to me when we were dating. It has become our traditional halloween movie.
Don Knotts is one of his heroes.

It's probably his Karate skills.
"That's right, karate...made my whole body a weapon."
(Early Napoleon Dynamite?)

"Atta Boy, Luther!"

One of MY favorite parts is when the Don Juan that Knotts is, says the most romantical thing to the GIRL. After his flustered speech to the beautiful Alma, he wraps up his awkward compliments with this lovely line.
"Average is darn Lucky to be sittin' here with Above Average." Awwwhhh!

And of course he ends up with the girl in a wedding at the end of the movie.

hee hee

This picture just makes me laugh.

Good thing someone has fun parties...

Emily got to go to a birthday party. What am I saying? She has been invited to (and attended) 4...count 'em...FOUR parties since the middle of September. Oh, wait. I forgot about the one this Saturday. So that will be FIVE!

Anyway, this one birthday party was at a cosmotology school. The girls got their hair and nails done. She looked so pretty.

I guess they did her hair twice. The first girl did a simple French Twist with one small ringlet in front. The teacher shook her head and said, "Not fancy enough." So they redid it. And ...well... I could never duplicate this, I'm sure.

My pretty girl.

They love each other

When Garrett and Owen grow older and start fighting or treating each other like...well...like brothers - teasing, fighting, etc - I will have proof that they really do love each other.

They really are great friends. Garrett is very affectionate. He loves kissing and hugging Owen - to a fault. In other words...he can overdo it at times.

But most of the time, the feeling is mutual.

They really do love each other.
They play great together too. I just hope it lasts.

This is what Daniel's mom was hoping for when she had their last baby, Derek who is 2 years younger than Daniel. Daniel was 5 years younger than his older brother, Doug. When they had Derek, I think they hoped for this kind of brotherly love/playmate. I'm not sure that's what you'd say about Derek and Daniel's relationship. ???

And for the grand finale...Is this the cutest picture you've ever seen...or what?

Visitors!

We've had a lot of visitors this summer. Even more than in these few pictures.
And we've LOVED it!

It's been wonderful having people come to us so we didn't have to travel one bit this summer and I still managed to see so many sisters and their families. (And that isn't counting Mom, Dad, Ethan and Leah who came at the beginning of the summer.) And we had room for everyone. (That has been nice. A few extra square feet go a long way. Did I mention I love having a finished basement?)

Thank you everyone for coming to see us. Hope you will again!

The Smiths and Skinners gathered for Family Prayer.

Skinners, Skinners and Jensens playing Apples to Apples Junior. (This is a very fun game. Gets a lot of laughs and the grown ups don't have to play along, though it's fun for them too.)

The Jensen Babes.

some of the Jensen Boys (with Garrett)

Goofy Friends of Justin's -Nathan and Logan

Krauses and Skinners

Cheeseburger and her little Chicken Nugget.

High School Musical!

While Aunt Amy and her girls were here, we HAD to go to East High where High School Musical was filmed. Look at my boys...such good sports! Justin's got a good jump on this one - :)


Sharpay's locker(s) is still pink. Other than this...it's just a normal boring high school. But the kids were excited. (the girls, that is.)

I love this kid!

Man, this is a fun kid. He loves hats so I had to buy this one for $2.50 when I saw it. He likes it so much, in this picture he can't stop looking at it, even though it's on his head. :)

My Handsome Man.
He couldn't miss out on the photo shoot of his cousin, so he had me comb his hair and take his picture too.

Owen and Mira.

Sir, yes, sir!! He does this salute with every hat.