The Walkers

Sayla Larsen and Kaiya have dance together on Tuesdays. Imagine a dozen uncoordinated three-year-olds running around a studio in tutus. It's pretty much the cutest thing ever. The girls were playing at our house after class the other day. They are so funny together... See? Told ya.

While uploading Disneyland, I found these other pictures that deserved shout outs. In no particular order... Ben is getting more stable standing and will take a few steps at a time now. It is so cute to see how proud of himself he is. Just ignore the white-trash-too-small-onesie-and-socks-ensemble. So, the kids were all bathed and ready for bed the other night, and I had just lain Ben down and returned to the room to find Kaiya in his crib. They certainly don't look too tired, do they? I don't have pictures of the kids' Halloween costumes; I'm still waiting on Laurel for those. She also has all the pictures from Ben's birthday party. Come on, Rojo. Get a move on!! (Okay, so maybe I just haven't been proactive enough to request them yet.) Anyway, I was pretty proud of my Halloween costume this year for The Carters' party. I was going for "Frumpy Teacher" but I think I ended up nailing "DeAnn Lee circa 1992". I'm sad to say that my ha...

We really do have impeccable timing, don't we? It has rained at Disneyland the last three times we've been. Oh well. It makes for shorter lines. Plus, Ben didn't seem to mind. Seriously - I don't think kids on carousels get much happier than this... Awkward family photo #1 Awkward family photo #2 (How sexy is Brad's poncho, huh?) I had to include this picture - Kaiya had just completely butted in line in front of about 20 kids. I didn't have the heart to pull her away from Goofy, as she was SO excited. DAY TWO: The battery in my camera was completely dead, so these pictures are taken on our friend Kyle's camera. Thanks, buddy. Kaiya complained that she couldn't see the princesses dance, so she weaseled her way up front-and-center. She's a funny, independent kid. "Oh. My. Gosh. Daddy, that is the REAL Buzz Lightyear. I want to give him loves." I love Ben's face in this second one. I'm not sure if he's excited to see Mickey or jus...

Now that these pictures are nearly two months old, I figured I ought to post the highlights. I might be lazy this year and use these for the Christmas card. People don't need to know they're from August, right?

I'm having issues and can't upload all my photos right now... but here's a preview.

This is the artist rendering of the Payson Utah LDS Temple. Pretty Cool.

I can't believe I forgot to include this picture of my dad photo bombing my would-be-picture of Brad. I like that guy.

Brad and I met up with my parents in San Fransisco last month for one last hurrah before school started. It was such a fun (kids free!) trip; I feel bad that I'm just getting around to documenting it. Our first stop was Alcatraz. My hair lost the fight to the Bay wind. Some pivoting and strategic hand placement made for a more successful photo... We were pretty upset that we didn't have our own "Vicky" as a tour guide. But the audio tour was still really cool. A typical cell... Brad incarcerated in a typical cell... We let him roam the yard for good behavior. Here's my question to Bobby Kennedy: if Alcatraz was supposedly so effective, why shut it down?? Some bad guys are just beyond rehabilitation. I say, lock 'em in a damp cell forever. Anyway - we also went to a Giants game that first day and had a blast! I think Brad and my dad got sick of listening to my mom and me take guesses at what RBI and ERA and all the other baseball acronym terminology stood for.....

...I'm pretty sure I'm Idina Menzel . We went to see her perform with the Utah Symphony last night and I was blown away. I was also riddled with envy. Seriously, how cool would it be to get paid to sing show tunes? Accompanied by a full symphony nonetheless? She sang a few songs from Wicked and Rent but most of the show consisted of really cool arrangements of old songs. It was interesting to watch her completely transition from song to song, really interpreting each song's meaning. The result was truly emotional and unique. I'm so glad we went. It was a perfect summer evening in Park City with some of my best friends. Thanks guys!

I got my back to school letter from my principal yesterday. It's the worst mail I receive every year, bar none. Why does summer pass so quickly? And who's the liar claiming that summer is three months long? Once August comes around, I'm done for. I will begrudgingly return to work in - count 'em - 16 days. Ouch. But what do you do? I can't complain too much about getting paid to hang out with the two best kids ever every day for the past two months. We've had a lot of fun this summer and there are lots more exciting events on our autumn calendar (our anniversary, a trip to San Fransisco, and Brett & Robyn's wedding to name a few). Anyway, I figured it was as good a time as any to capture this summer on film... er... whatever the terminology is for digital pictures. I'm happy with the results, but both Kaiya and Ben look so old; it makes me sad. Check out Ben's stud pose with his legit man-tie. Kaiya was less than cooperative until the photograp...