K--I-S-S-I-N-G

Last night I was running out the door to Tempe Symphony rehearsal (yeah!).

Greg was holding Emma in his arms and I walked up to him and gave him a kiss.

Emma quickly shoved her lips right into the mix, to enable the three of us to kiss at the same time. At this point, Greg and I were laughing pretty hard, but the little lip lady was not done.

She then pulled her face away and shoved my head towards Greg to encourage us to kiss again, once we kissed, she promptly stuck her lips into the mix.

This repeated three or four times with Greg and I laughing hysterically and Emma very focused on the task at hand.

Let's hope this little kissing obesession dies down when the hormones kick in.

And then onto Roseburg!

After the wedding festivities (see previous post), Greg flew home, but Emma and I stayed to PARTY ON!

My brother Jeff and his family live in Roseburg, Oregon - a little over an hour from Eugene and the Newell Family. We brought JJ and Zac's son Alex with us for two days (pictured above with Ashlee).

We stayed for four wonderful days and had such a FANTASTIC time! A huge thanks to Jeff and Ashlee for putting up with Emma and I for the week! Not an easy task... but since we are family they are STUCK doing it.

It was great to see how much fun all the kids had together - and it made Ashlee and I both extremely grateful that we are not the parents to four children under the age of four. You really have to stay on your toes! And we were exhausted every night! :)

Emma had a BLAST playing with all boys - and I think gained some courage on activities that she was too sissy to accomplish in Arizona. Nothing like some healthy competition to push you in the right direction.

Ashlee and Jeff did such a wonderful job keeping us entertained. They always had great ideas for outings, food, and fun!

Bedtime was the best time of all! Clean kids, books... and off to BEDDY BYE! I love this picture because Alex has not one, but two hands up his nose. Must have been a good one. :)

Jeff and Ashlee have this ROCKIN' Wild Animal park literally up the street from their house. They keep all the animals in a fairly natural habitat and then you drive your car through for a close look. Here are Emma and Alex enjoying the ride.

Emma and Tyler spent an entire hour one morning trying on each other's clothes.

Don't ask.

The Wild Animal Park also has some exhibits that are more like a normal "zoo". So we spent a morning driving through and another morning walking through. It is such a neat park.

The boys were so kind to Emma. They showered her with TONS of affection and she loved every second. She does not do so well at sharing - and Ben and Tyler did their best to work with this "social woe".

I walked into Tyler's room to this... they were pretending to go to sleep. Pretend away children. Pretend Away!

Ty Ty the cross dresser. I'm not sure if Jeff would approve of his son wearing Emma's shoes... but Tyler sure seem pleased with himself.

Ashlee and the boys at a cool train park.

Say it all together...... AHHHHHHHHHHH... these cousins are three weeks apart and so darling.

Again, a HUGE THANK YOU to Jeff and Ashlee and the boys!! A week to remember!!

Gee I really LOVE you and we're gonna get MARRIED!

I have returned from JJ's wedding festivities and am very happy to report that everything was absolutely wonderful!

We hopped on a plane Thursday afternoon (with the rest of the Arizona bridal party) and set out for all of the wedding excitement!

We checked into our hotel and my Aunt Sharron and I headed immediately over to JJ's bridal shower in Eugene, Oregon. After a few (thousand) missed turns, we arrived with approximately 10 minutes left of the shower. OOPS.

Never fear though! We made it for the MOST important part of the evening... THE PEDICURES! This evening is my fondest memory of the whole trip. I know it sounds silly, because the wedding DAY should be, but this was just a relaxed evening in the Newell Family living room, with an excessive and abundant amount of laughter and stories.

OK, and it doesn't hurt that someone else painted my toe nails! THANKS JULIE!!
Pictured above is my sister-in-law Ashlee (who married my brother Jeff but is also JJ's little sister), and Marilyn Newell (JJ's mother).

Pictured below are some of JJ's sisters: Amber, Jill, Julie, Beth. Have you ever seen a more BEAUTIFUL group of women?

The bride-to-be getting royal treatment.

JJ had all of her nieces and nephews walk down the aisle, hand in hand, before she entered. Ben and Natalie (picture below) STOLE THE SHOW. The were so darling. Stayed together the whole time and smiled through it all. Here they are at the wedding rehearsal.

We kicked off the wedding day with a wonderfully tasty wedding breakfast at the Newell home. Here are JJ and Zac during the toasts.

And then on to the wedding ceremony!

It was held in this stunning forest area close to Eugene. The grounds are kept beautifully and it could not have been a prettier day. JJ looked breathtaking, as usual, and Zac so dapper in his tuxedo. They made a picturesque bride and groom and were so happy.

I was lucky enough to be JJ's maid of honor... and believe me... with as many "best friends" as JJ has had throughout her life, I considered it a real honor.

Greg sang a Josh Groban song in the ceremony that was very nice. Here we are with our "didn't get a nap" toddler who was not in the best of spirits. Seconds after this photo, she grabbed our *NEW* camera and threw it onto the cobblestone walkway, cracking the lens. Yet another expensive electronic gadget that was can add to her tab. UGH!

JJ had all of her brides maids in brown and orange. It looked so pretty with the Fall colors of Oregon.

The bride and her Father.

Mr. and Mrs. Zachariah Lorenzen!!

(and their cute son Alexander)

I felt so blessed to be a part of this special moment in JJ's life. She is an impressive woman and has found a wonderful match in Zac. CONGRATULATIONS LOVE BIRDS!!

The Great Depression: Emma Style

As documented below by my sister, Laura...

Emma had a horrible, awful, dreadfully boring time in Arizona when we left her last weekend.

Basically her "attachment issues" are backwards. She is happy when we leave and sad when we return. Is there something we are doing wrong? :)

Actually, we are SO GLAD she enjoyed herself so much.

Basically her entire weekend was spent at my grandparents cabin near Heber, Arizona with beautiful 75 degree weather. And what would a good vacation be without some light reading? A girl after my own heart.
Enjoying the Lawrence Welk Show Reruns with Great Grandma Twilla. Yep folks. Evidently, she loves it. Sad to say, it doesn't frequent our TV. Unless you count the SNL versions.

Helping Great Grandpa Hancock with his dinner. Open Wide!!

Our hiking backpack came up with them. She begged and begged to ride it. In fact, she loved it so much that when they got mack to Mesa, she made my sister carry her around the house in it. Just seeing this picture erupted cries of elation, "pack pack! pack pack!".

GGCC - Gone Vegas!

There's a story, of a little group of friends.

In April of 2003, five friends (Melanie, Courtney, Rob, Greg, Tammy) enjoyed watching General Conference together while addressing envelopes for our wedding. As a joke, we nicknamed our group "Go General Conference Club" or GGCC. By some twist of fate, the five of us (Melanie wasn't married at the time) moved up to Utah for jobs and school. During the pursuing three years in Utah, we spent an exceptional amount of time together, and most enjoyed weekend slumber parties, when we would all crash at Mel and Courtney's. The nickname stuck and we have called ourselves GGCC every since.

Our time together mostly consists of laughing, eating an embarrassing amount of calories, and uhhhh... laughing more. My kind of club.

Labor Day of 2005 we took our first trip. GGCC - Gone Moab.
In March of 2006 for Melanie's birthday we took a second trip. GGCC - Gone Disneyland.

Now that Melanie is expecting twins in December, we determined that a gathering should be planned before the babies arrive. With Greg and I back in Arizona, Mel, her husband Skyler and Courtney in Utah and Rob in California - the most central location was Las Vegas. Hence our third trip was created. GGCC - Gone Vegas.

Much Much Much Much THANKS and LOVE go to my sister and Mom who watched Emma for the whole weekend!

The photo below was awkwardly taken and inspired, following an evening of searching and laughing at the website: http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/

We rented a gorgeous vacation home about 20 minutes from the strip. Let me tell you folks. Vacation homes are the WAY TO GO. Each of the 4 bedrooms had it's own bathroom, there was a huge kitchen, pool and spa and about 4000 square feet. And it was only $60/night per person, making it much cheaper than a hotel. We also saved money by cooking some of our own food. It worked out very well.

Went to the strip mostly on Saturday. Did some touristy things including the M&M store and the roller coaster at New York, New York.

Saturday evening we enjoyed a yummy dinner at the Venetian and some gambling to follow. :)

We played the "dollar challenge", by inserting one dollar into the nickel slots. I won my money back a few times and then actually had a profit of $3.00 - before I got greedy and lost it all. Greg lost his dollar within the first round, which explains the somber face in this shot.

And what would a trip to Vegas be without the Bellagio water show.? OK, well you can't really see the Bellagio or the water behind us, but trust me. It's there.

After the roller coaster, Courtney played "Deal or No Deal" in the game area and won us some delightful little "car erasers". She's a true friend that Courtney. :)

Rousing games of "Sorry" and "Yahtzee" were enjoyed on Sunday. Melanie technically "won", but she didn't ever pick up the knack for "following the rules of the game"... so we aren't really sure of the accuracy of results.

Our Sunday dinner spread of food. One thing we did NOT lack this weekend was delicious and high caloric food. Stepped on the scale FIVE POUNDS heavier upon returning home. YIKES.

Don't remember how this tradition ever started, but GGCC has had "sing-a-longs" for quite some time. Luckily, Rob does a great job at sight reading just about anything we put in front of him, and the rest of us sing our little hearts out. Don't be confused though. This is not serious singing. This is - grab some 80's song books from the library and sing your brains out to Chicago, Billy Joel, Whitney Houston, Bette Midler,etc...

Our first time leaving this little princess for more than 12 hours. Clearly, my Mom knows how to keep her entertained (see pic below). We expected a warm welcome upon our return, but Emma had such a great time with Laura and my Mom that she didn't even really care to see us. Oh well. I guess I should be grateful that I can leave my daughter without too many serious consequences. According to the babysitters, Emma did really great the whole time. Slept and played like a champ. THANK YOU LAURA AND MOM!!

We had such a fantastic time!! Sin City made for a really great reunion of a really great club.