A Post About Baptism and Cousins

My cousin's little boy Carter got baptized almost a month ago, which makes this post WAY late, and I considered not posting it, but there were just too many hilarious pictures. Carter and his siblings are about the same ages as Tyann's kids, so they like to hang out, and it was quite the weekend.

My mom played piano at the baptism, and the kids wanted to "help" her. This is such an adorable picture!

Ali holding Carson and hanging with Uncle Taylor.

Some of the kids were less than amused during the talks. Bree looks ready to scream, and McKayla is like, "Okay, I'm done. What's next?"

We tried really hard to get the kids all lined up for a picture, but it was . . . difficult. This is still an adorable picture, though.



Rachel, Kayla, Bree, Ali, and Jarrett led us in some songs while we waited for Carter to get changed and come back to get confirmed.

A couple of days later, we ended up with ten short of a million people at our house. It was exciting.

Carson, Ronny, and Kayden. Three adorable little dudes.

More cuteness. I love Kayden's expression a lot.

Carson is done. Priceless expression. Also, look how cute Ronny and Kayden's feet are. Carson's are cute too, but you can't see them.

With the assistance of my best friend, Nicole, the girls had a fashion show in the basement. Get ready folks, 'cause this is fun stuff coming up.

A proper depiction of the pre-show chaos. Good times.

Bree, walking the walk. And . . . not looking at the camera. She's adorable, anyway. :) Look at Carter applauding. He was so sweet!

McKayla didn't hold still long enough for me to get the front of her, but I assure you, she was very beautiful.

Rachel looking gorgeous as always. I am jealous of that girl.

The boys. They were such good sports to let the girls play fashion show. They were the camera men and judges. And in-between, when the girls were getting dressed, they were the entertainment. :)

And . . . just because I love this picture of Jarrett. He is SUCH a stud.

A Morning With Miss Frizzle

This post is going to be out of chronological order because I have about three posts that I've been meaning to get up for a while, but I can't help it. This is just too funny, folks.

So, as you may or may not be aware, BreeAnna LOVES the Magic School Bus show. If you haven't seen it, you should, because it's quite entertaining. Anyway, we were babysitting Bree and Carson this morning, and it was freezing in the house, so we went out to sit in the van and soak up some sun. We soon started pretending we were in The Bus, and Bree declared herself Ralphie, Mom was Keesha, Carson was the lizard, Liz, and I ended up being Miss Frizzle by virtue of sitting in the driver's seat. Bree has yet to stop reminding us of what our "real" names are, and when she said a prayer for lunch, she blessed Ralphie's, Miss Frizzle's, Liz's (which she pronounces List), and Keesha's food.

Also, before all the Magic School Bus stuff began, Neil was reading the kids Pinocchio, and when he read the part about the puppet wanting to be a real boy, Bree looked up and and asked, "Are you a real Neil?"

And then, when we were outside, Mom pointed out a jet trail to her. She gave us this look like we were complete idiots and said, "It's not a trail, it's a straight cloud!"

Okay, this is my favorite. Ready? She wrapped one of those glow-stick things around her neck and said, "It's a neck hat!" So. Funny. I've pretty much just been laughing all morning, so I had to post and share it with you all.

And because I think posts without pictures are boring, here's some pictures. None of them are from today, but they're still Bree and Carson being hysterical. :)

Carson in his "lumberjack outfit." Just so you all know, he was not originally dressed like this, he got his blue shirt all wet, and we had to put the red plaid one one. Obviously, this shirt and these shorts were never meant to be together . . . You can see from Carson's face that he's not too excited about it either.

Bree going cross-eyed. Possibly the funniest thing I've ever seen in my whole life! Neil taught her how, and she's really quite good at it.

So, here's to Bree and Carson. Thanks for the hilarity, guys.

The Almost Campout

Nicole and I did another crazy thing. You may recall one of the other crazy things we did. Let me preface this with saying we have been wanting to go camping for about two years, and just haven't gotten around to it. We eventually decided to camp out in my backyard, but it wasn't just going to be ANY old camp-out, oh no. We wanted to find out what MREs taste like, wear camouflage, and cook on a portable stove! Wait, you've never had that desire? Ah-hem. Let's get to some pictures, shall we?

Part of our "field kit." MREs, matches, and plastic spoons. :)

Me, keeping a careful eye on the stove. We had no desire to burn the backyard down. Isn't it funny how you can see the swing set and the old bunny hutch in the background? I think it's funny.

Nicole preparing the MREs at our lovely campsite. It almost looks like it's not in the backyard . . .

Wild animal attack! The kitty LOVED the MREs. Go figure.

So much in fact, that he felt the need to mooch off of Neil. Neil didn't let him.

Steele all dressed up. I admit, I want a shirt that says CIA.

Me and Nicole in the tent. We decided to be EXTRA strange and played a Lord of the Rings game. Or tried to, anyway. First, I couldn't remember how to play, then we were attacked by a rabid wasp! Thanks to our exceptional field skills, we vanquished the foe. :)

As a final word, I would like you to all know that Nicole and I have the GREATEST respect for the troops, and this was our way of honoring them and trying to find out a little bit of what they go through for us. Thanks to all the men and women out there serving our country!

A Bit of Creativity

Okay, I admit. I LOVE Legos. Still. Always have, probably always will. There's something . . . therapeutic about sticking those little blocks together. I pretty much can only build cool houses – my cars, spaceships, robots etc., end up really stupid-looking. But my houses rock. Faith and I collaborated on this one (we can not only clean kitchens, but build houses!) and it is probably my crowning achievement. Seriously, we spent almost a whole day on this, so you're required to tell me it's awesome even if you don't think it is. ;)

The outside view. I like the turret windows a lot.

Budding Photographer

So, I meant to do this post like, a month ago. I should have done it at the same time I did the Shakespeare festival, because this was all the same week, but I didn't. Oh well. Anyway, as I mentioned before, Rachel had my camera most of the time when Neil, Nicole and I were in Cedar City. She is quite talented and creative, and I may have to give her license to use the camera more often. This post is composed entirely of pictures she took.

Let's start with some self-portraits, shall we?

Funny kid. :)

And now, some portraits of Neil:

Aren't these great? I especially love the scenery in the top one.

Speaking of scenery . . .

I love this one. It feels like you're going to slide right off the planet because of the angle she took it at, but I think it provides a pretty cool effect. The lighting is also really awesome.

This is my favorite! It's just a close-up of a pond at SUU, but the lighting is so awesome and she got a really clear picture. Nice work, Rach. :)

We Few, We Happy Few

Nicole, Neil, and I had the profound privilege of going down to Cedar City to attend the Shakespeare Festival. We felt like big kids because Mom actually let us take the van and go by ourselves! It was ridiculously fun, and even though it was a little on the steep side, it was well worth every dollar. We got to see Henry V in a replica of The Globe, pictured below. It was incredible!

We couldn't take pictures of the actual plays, but here's one of the Green Show, which is a free hour of skits and songs to get you in a Renaissance mood.

Oh, and Rachel took both of these pictures, I believe. She commandeered my camera for most of the trip, but I didn't mind, she did a good job.

The Great Kitchen Adventure

Once upon a time, my sister-in-law Faith and I decided that the Monroe house had been under the oppressive rule of twin tyrants Disorganization and Clutter far too long, and we prepared for battle. With Lysol wipes and scrubbers in hand, we tackled the kitchen.

The battle was sore and I failed to capture much of the proceedings, but here is a dramatic rendering that was taken mid-strife.

What is so significant about this, you ask? I, in all my twenty years, have never seen this particular spot of counter top. A true miracle!

My personal victory. Disorganization was banished from this drawer in the space of an afternoon.

Clutter put up a valiant fight for the hutch, but after throwing a thousand useless papers away, we gained a foothold.

Most silliness aside, it was quite the experience, and I'm pretty proud of the final product. Thanks for the help, Faith!

And for a bonus, Bree and Carson being their cute little selves. :)