sisters farrar

Last year's Christmas video

2011-12-06T11:56:00.001-08:00

I watched this video this morning and it put me in a holiday mood.

How I Spent My Christmas 2010 // Nylands and Farrars from rob nyland on Vimeo.

It's crazy to think that just a week later Xander would show up and take us all by surprise.

I'm sad that the Florida Farrars won't be with us this year. That was such a neat time to have Alyssa here, getting to know her for the first time. And this year we also won't have Monica and Jachen with us either. Dear family, quit this nonsense and move home!

An Old Video to Enjoy!

2011-12-03T01:20:00.001-08:00

Here is a video I just found tonight. Monica, I don't think you have seen this one. In the video she is super excited about the upcoming wedding and the Easter egg hunt. Listen closely to the beginning. Sorry for the low quality video.

Leah is so funny and cute in this!

Dear Monica,

2011-11-23T14:48:00.001-08:00

I was just looking at some photos on the computer and thought I would share them with you and tell a little about them, that way you can see a little more of our little boy and the rest of the readers, if there are any and if they want to, can look at them too!

A couple of months ago we went to Pike's Place. Haha. That's not what it's called. We went to Pike Place. Rob was about to start a new quarter and we wanted to take a day trip before all our fun of summer had to end. Sad that going to Seattle feels like a special event for us. Henry had a lot to see, so it was fun. Oh - guess what was the BEST part of the trip? We parked RIGHT OUTSIDE of the market - yep, on the street b/w the main booths and the "back alley" (is that what it's called?). It was like the fulfillment of a life goal. By the way, how crazy is it that the closest spot is also the only free place to park?

I'll be honest and tell you the main reason I'm posting this next picture is because my hair looks really good. But also to tell you that Henry is okay in the carrier, but only for so long. He gets bored. Also - see those jeans he's wearing? Gap Kids had them for super cheap ($4 cheap) so I bought two pairs in two sizes. When he wore them for the first time I noticed pink stitching. I tried to not let it bother me, but it did, so I colored over the 5 or so places of stitching with brown sharpie :) Rather than be embarrassed that I cared so much, I decided to be proud of how brilliant of an idea it was. However... after wearing them a half dozen times I realized that they looked really weird on him. I wouldn't think that baby boy and girl jeans had different "fits" but I swear these look like a baby girl should be wearing them. I finally put both pair away with a few other girl items for a future possible baby girl. I'll be really happy when that girl comes and I have two pairs of jeans for her - she won't mind the brown stitching.

Henry loves to be lifted up and down with his hands (we are careful - no arms are being pulled out of their socket). That's what we're doing here. Right in the middle of the market. I know my baby is cute and I like to share him with others - they enjoyed seeing and hearing him laugh while we did this. I know they did.

I have a friend who gives the best baby gifts - after she finds out the name of your baby she finds books with a main character by that name. So cute, huh. I think he'll really love these books as he gets older. They are good ones, too. Rob and I really like them. This one is awesome, it's the story of Henry David Thoreau building a cabin. I first learned about his cabin when I heard this talk in conference. Cool that we have it in a book now! Look at Henry's face - he's like, "build a cabin!? I'm just a baby!"

Rob especially loves this one because the characters are wearing retro clothes. Check it out. There are a couple other books in this series that we're going to get. Henry's using his imagination right now:

Here's another one. Henry the Helpful Elephant. This one's Henry's favorite because he likes to chew on it (it's plastic so you can bring it in the bath) and it has a squeaker. We keep this in our bedroom for when he plays in there. I don't remember what made him upset here, but it's cute. (Rob has a little clip of this in the video of Henry 0-6mo. Remember it?)

Henry LOVES to go on walks and we used to go most mornings, even getting back before 8:45 when Alicia bring Xander over on Tues and Thursdays. Unfortunately the weather is bad now so our walking days might be over. This picture is actually from an afternoon walk - on the boardwalk by our house. Have you ever walked on it? I'm pretty bored of it by now, but I guess we're lucky it's there. I love this fleece - I didn't even know it had ears until I put it on him for the first time. He's too small for it now and wears a blue fleece hoodie (no ears) these days.

This picture is evidence of Alicia as Super-Babysitter. She's feeding Jack, her friend's baby (Xander's age). I'm so lucky that I can feel okay not being with Henry the one day I go to work because he's with Alicia who, not only is the most capable person, but also loves him.

Rob is the best. He wakes up with Henry in the morning so I can sleep another 30 min before Rob needs to get ready for work and Henry gets hungry. We started this when I was sick, then just kept it going! Actually, lately I try to get up and get moving, but Rob is still usually the first one out of bed in the morning to get Henry and either bring him into bed with me or change his diaper. This picture is from one morning that I was still in bed. Rob's bed head always stands straight up - I call him Jimmy Neutron.

Here are my new boots. Thanks for helping me figure out what I wanted. I'm quite happy with them. These are also my jeggings! They are my most flattering pair of jeans - who knew!?

Rob bought this outfit the day we found out we were having a boy. I left the ultrasound to go back to work and Rob left it to go shopping :) It's from Target - do you know that Dwell has a Target line? We have a bunch of Dwell baby clothes from Target. I don't know if you can tell here, but it's a sweater! I saw this at Target and really liked it but held off, not knowing what we were having. Then I was at a meeting at school with some parents who brought their baby who was wearing it. I definitely wanted it after that. There have been too many times that I think clothes are too big for Henry so I put off putting it on him, then realize later that he could have been wearing them longer. Such a bummer! That happened with this outfit too.

Rob's mom got this book for Henry the last time we went to Costco with them. Henry has a lot of books, but he didn't have a book about Dogs. When she wanted to buy it for him I was excited - every boy should have a book all about dogs!

I got some pretty cute things at the baby shower you couldn't go to. Here is one hat that my friend, Alicia, made for him (there's a leaf on the top). Aunt Debi also knittted a really cute hat similar to this one. Neither fit him yet.

I rarely get to see Henry sleeping because I rarely go in his room when he's asleep (nothing is worth the risk of waking him up!). Henry usually only takes two naps, but if he needs (if his earlier naps were too short or we need him to stay up later that day) to, I nurse him to sleep for a third nap - we lay down on the bed together while he nurses, then I sneakily move away and he sleeps for just a short "cat nap." - oh, I just remembered we sent you a video of waking him up from this very same nap. He's so stinking sweet.

Last year at our ward Christmas party Rob told me that he had volunteered for us to perform, but then chickened out and took our name of the list. He was almost so in trouble - no way am I going to sing in front of my ward! This year he knew better and instead signed up to play with his friend, Ben, who is like Rob and doesn't mind such things. The two of them got together last Sunday to decide on what songs they were going to play. I loved hearing the guitar, uke and banjo being played in my house! I wish they would do it more often - the only problem was that they were Christmas songs and it isn't time for Christmas songs yet.

Okay, I just found 15 more pictures to post here and tell you about. Still with me?

Henry does.not.use.pacifiers. There must have been a full moon when this picture was taken. We've tried to give him pacifiers a few times, and he's just not into them. When he was really little he was okay with us holding one in his mouth while we rocked him to sleep. Later he didn't like them at all and get a disgusted look on his face when we gave him one. Now days he'll take it, but to chew on the side of it like he does with every toy.

Not all of these pictures are of Henry, I realized. We had Collin over while Marin and JR went out - we're good babysitters because we don't go anywhere anymore - we don't like to keep baby up late and don't like to have other people put him to sleep. I surprise myself that I have a hard time with that, but, whatever. If there's one thing I learned, it's that you don't know how you'll be with a baby until you have one. At least that's how it's been with me. I'm starting to realize that's how it will always be - that you don't know how you'll be with a toddler until you have one, and so forth. I still make plans for how I'll be and what things I will or won't do, but now I know that those plans may change. And I can't judge anyone else for how they are with their baby, toddler, etc. Back to Collin - Rob and him made this fort, which Collin is adamant about calling a "castle." They played while I put the baby to sleep (it's about a 30 min routine). Then we watched a movie under our "castle" - Collin was being pretty snuggly and it was easy to pretend he was Henry all grown up (if 2 1/2 = grown up).

When you have a baby you should get a Sophie giraffe. Henry loved his. Yes, past tense - we lost it. In Portland. I searched the car, the hotel room, called the restaurant we had eaten in. Nothing. Sophie just up and walked off.

Look how big Aidan looks - and he always looks this big now! I kind of don't like it. Aidan and Greyson love Henry, but especially Aidan.

And here's another couple of buddies. It's fun to see Torsten with Henry - he thinks he's cute. And Henry thinks Torsten is pretty cool.

Henry also loves putting his toes in his mouth BUT he only does it when his diaper is off. I think it's because his diapers are too tight, which may be a crazy hypothesis, but what else would it be? Henry has become near impossible to change - as soon as you put him down he wants to flip over. So frustrating.

Look what Target has: more flavors of Icees. This is root beer float flavor and the texture is really perfect for the flavor. I got myself one as a special treat and then took this picture to make Rob jealous.

We watched Collin a second time. Isn't this picture sweet?

Rob had to leave for something while we were watching Collin and it was time to put the baby to bed which takes place in our bedroom. I told Collin he had to stay in the room with me because I didn't want him out in the rest of the house without me. He didn't like the idea until I told him he could play in the closet :)

Gross, huh. We made a ton of freezer meals at a Relief Society activity - this became meatballs.

Rob helped a friend (John - he works with Rob) make a video a few weeks back. It was fun to see Rob in his craft. They made me be in the video for a few seconds. I. Hated. It. It was fun to have John over, though, and when we were done he gave Henry the puppet he used in the video (and in the picture).

Henry in his DJ station. It's the only thing we have now that we can use to make sure he stays in one place for a long time. We don't need that very often, but it's priceless when we do (when making dinner, for example).

Henry is finally okay with his carseat! I'm so glad the phase of hating being in the car is over. He now just doesn't like it when it's dark out, but if we need to we turn on the dome light and he's okay. We considered and bought a couple car mirrors and this one is definitely the best. He enjoys looking at us through the mirror and sometimes himself too. I don't think he knows it's him in the mirror yet, I wonder if I'll know it when he does. Looking in the mirror is one way to calm him when nothing else will. That and going outside. Mom got him the shoes in this picture, he just started wearing them.

Well, that is literally all the pictures that I could have shared with you. It's been fun to have someone to send videos of Henry to during the day - I'm glad you enjoy them! We miss you and will be thinking of you on your birthday!

Love, Stephanie

Two Quilts and a Blanket

2011-11-03T11:23:00.000-07:00

I have an emotional attachment to a bunch of things that we have for Henry. It's bad news. Here are three of the things I love love love.

My mom is a amazing quilter and always makes a quilt for her grandbabies when they are born. Maybe not the number one reason to have a baby, but it definitely is enticing! I was so excited when it was my turn to go with my mom to the fabric store to select the fabric for my baby's quilt. It was really tough to choose until I found the sweetest vintage looking space print that inspired all the other fabric choices. I really wanted grey in my his quilt, so I was really happy that the space print worked with grey. I love that my mom quilted it with a "squiggle" stitch in the same teal color as the space print. It also has a really thick border, which you can't see well in the photo. The back is the polka dot (how amazing are those polka dot colors?) with a wide strip of the space print which she pieced off-center - clever!

This quilt drapes over Henry's crib and is the one we take his picture with every month. I love everything about it.

A good family friend, Leslie, is also an amazing quilter. I have always loved her bold choice of patterns and have had a healthy dose of quilt-envy when a couple of my sisters received quilts from her or when I'd see a quilt at her house that she was working on. How excited was I when we visited Leslie and her family a few months back and she showed us the quilt she was working on... for me Henry!? Very. The best part is how bright it is, it reminds me of Sassy brand toys. The playful red material has uniquely shaped animals and is the focus of the quilt. My other favorite fabric is the white with black polka dots. The back is a totally different print - a blue floral. I love that the material on the back isn't found on the front. There is a lot of quilting (I don't really know these terms!) done on this one, too. I just love the texture of a quilt with a lot of stitching!

Henry loves his new quilt - we keep it in the living room for Henry to play with his toys on. It's such a beautiful and bright addition to our space that I don't mind it being out all the time!

This is not a quilt, but it's one of my favorite blankets (made by another amazing quilter, though!). My aunt Susan sent me a couple of flannel blankets after Henry was born. One has camping-themed material, so I save it for camping. The other is this one. It is the best color green and is a city print! Love city prints! It's better than any flannel blanket I'm capable of making because she finished off the sides with scallops! The back is stripes. And I am ob.sessed. with stripes.

Thank you to all the wonderful, talented, and generous women in mine and Henry's lives! The best part is thinking of you every time my precious little baby is enjoying one of your creations!

Leah & Clara Post #2

2011-10-05T19:12:00.000-07:00

Monica, here are some more photos to share.

Clara and I went to the Mall one day, and this is what she wore....she grabbed the purse and held it the whole time we walked around....she was such a little shopper that day.

Leah in her new dress, a bubble skirt...she looks so grown-up in it.

Below is a little photo shoot we did cause they both had pony tails in their hair (I think Clara's first). They were being very silly.

Below is the girls in their Easter dresses. I cant remember if you ever saw them in their dresses. Sorry I didn't get a better photo, I don't know what happened, because that yellow dress on Clara was so cute, she looked like a little Southern Belle.

That's all for now. We love you!

Dear Monica,

2011-09-27T10:20:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of Natalie's last post, I'll write to you too! We miss you and Jachen and also the Florida Farrars. It's sad to have family that isn't here, but you know that if you were here, you'd realize that we're not having any special fun time without you. It may look like that in the photos, but it's just life. I know that's the part you miss - I just hope we don't make you miss it extra by telling you all about it :)

On the Monday of Labor-day weekend we went to Bethany Holm's wedding. It was a beautiful day. Cold, but at least we were outside (we tend to stay inside a lot - we are high maintenance with Henry and his naps). The wedding was at this farm just north of Kayak Point.

We didn't have any clean "church clothes" for Henry so we put him in his Aloha shirt. At the time I thought it was better than anything else because it at least had a collar...? I realized when we got there that it looked kind of ridiculous. We decided that if we hadn't just gotten home from a trip to Hawaii it would be even more ridiculous. But it's not like anyone there knew that :) Also, when I got home I realized there were clothes in the dryer he could have worn.

There is Kade. The Farmers came into town for the wedding, which was the best part of the whole thing, of course. Hannah didn't come - I guess you saw that on facebook. Kade is hilarious. I think he knows he is, though. He really likes the babies.

When James holds Henry he looks even smaller.

While we were waiting for the ceremony to start Kade and Claire were hanging out with James and the babies. The ceremony took place right here. Bethany was driven up in this old-timey car. Here dad met her at the car and they walked across this bridge and up the aisle.

Poor baby, we should have put him in pants. It was cold in the shade, which is where we sat. He was under the nursing cover most of the time, though. Yeah, I didn't know if that is awkward to nurse a baby during a wedding. I did stop nursing him for a few minutes when we stood for Bethany to come down the aisle.

We took some family photos on the bridge after. Could have been so cute except that Henry didn't ever look.

Because our photos were so cute James and Alicia wanted one. I took this while they were tucking in their shirts before. Hahaha

Then I took a real one. (or maybe Rob took it)

In other news...

Henry had a bad diaper rash a few weeks back. Letting him "air out" is a good way to get rid of it, but it's risky to not put a diaper on Henry. He's got some good distance on him, so we had to put towels all around him, almost covering half of our living room. We've had to wash our sheets and blankets and even our down comforter more times than we usually would due to him being left without a diaper a little too long.

2011-09-22T17:20:00.000-07:00

Here is the first of a series of posts I will do for my sister Monica. It is a little look at what we have been up to since She moved to Switzerland. We miss her lots & lots. The first photo is dated 1 May, but don't worry, I didn't take that many photos of our summer, so it shouldn't be too boring (hopefully). It is mostly just cute pics of my kids, but I know Monica will enjoy them.

The girls are wearing the outfits from Monica's Wedding, to church. They got quite the compliments. Monica, notice the dark brown tights, cute huh?

Clara meeting baby Henry for the first time.

My cute girls in the stylin' church outfits.

I love having their dresses coordinate, yes, it's a sickness.

Monica here are some photos of Leah's 5th Birthday party. I don't know how much you had seen of it already, so here are just a couple of Leah, and you can see the space around her.

Behind her is the painting I did that became her invitation (a fabulous idea from Monica). I painted it, then took a photo, then used it as a graphic. Brilliant!

Here are a few of the photos from party #2, the Rainbow party! This one was also Clara's 2nd Birthday party. I wish I could have gone all out with this theme, I will have to revisit it before it goes out of style....I was just super busy with a certain person's wedding, that I wasn't able to do half the stuff I wanted. Which is actually a blessing because I tend to do too much, so it really did work out just fine.

The take home treats (candy kabobs) and the rainbow chandelier.

Silly sisters. And the rainbow cake below...which I forgot to get a photo of the inside rainbow layers.

Monica, we miss you. We love you! I'll do more photos another day.

Sisters

2011-06-22T05:24:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite photos from my wedding.

Monica, this ones for you!

2011-06-17T22:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a little taste of the photos we had taken today. And I promise to post some videos of the girls soon. Title of the photo: "Leah loves Monica" (see the heart with her hands, obvious I'm sure).

Xander and Uncle Rob

2011-02-23T08:58:00.000-08:00

Lucky for Rob and I, we live close to Alicia and James who are serious about their date nights, so have needed us to watch baby Xander since he was 1 or 2 weeks old (and, lucky for us, they'll do the same with our baby when he comes!).

Helping Uncle Rob make papusas
(Xander is helping us break in our baby carrier - do you see his little hand?)

Xander thinks Uncle Rob is comfy, he falls asleep as soon as Rob holds him.

Our sweet little nephew.

2011 Personal Resolutions

2011-01-08T17:19:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd post my resolutions for the new year, just my personal ones (Rob and I have family resolutions). I got inspired by Cindy's resolutions, that the number of resolutions match the age that she's turning that year. I'm turning 32 in Sept. That's a lot of resolutions, right? I thought about not doing it, didn't know if that was overkill, wondering if I should instead be satisfied with the resolutions Rob and I made together. However, I also know myself. I know that I don't easily make changes/commitments mid-year. If it's going to happen, it has to be in January.

These words by Sister Julie Beck in a conference talk reminded me that the most important resolutions are those of spiritual nature.

"A good woman knows that she does not have enough time, energy, or opportunity to take care of all of the people or do all of the worthy things her heart yearns to do...But with personal revelation, she can prioritize correctly and navigate this life confidently. The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life."

I also balanced the difficult, all-year-long resolutions with some tasks that once I do them, I can cross them off the list.

1. Attend an additional (besides monthly w/ Rob) Temple session each quarter

2. Read Book of Mormon daily, miss 2x/month max

3. Personal prayer morning and night, miss 2x/month max*

4. Read 8 books, including 2 nonfiction books

5. Gospel study during work lunch 3x/wk

6. 100% Visiting Teaching, 2 months exception*

7. Be less codependent- be willing to do things w/o Rob (ie., hang out with friends)

8. Healthy pregnancy weight gain for remaining months – minimal gain (baby weight, etc.)*

9. Lose pregnancy weight by 2012**

10. Train to run 5k after pregnancy

11. Check Facebook 1x/day max

12. Other online (blogs, just for fun – not emails, recipes, etc.) 2x/day for 5 min each

13. Create a monthly chore chart

14. Eat only 2 sweets/wk*

15. Learn and practice Kegels for labor & recovery*

16. Spend time with just me and a niece/nephew 1x/month

17. Complete New York trip scrapbook

18. Hang pictures in bedroom

19. Establish and stick to personal (clothing/fun) budget*

20. Establish and stick to gift budget

21. Establish and stick to grocery budget

22. Bake and decorate a 2-3 layer cake

23. Lift weights 2x/wk (for wks when I go to the gym 4x or more)*

24. Actively work on Personal Progress

25. Hang out with Jenaca every 2-3 months

26. Visit TaVaun 2x

27. Make Seattle concert cd

28. Hang out with UW SLP girls at least 3x

29. Memorize The Living Christ document*

30. Complete emergency binder

31. Cloth diaper Baby

32. Review and adjust resolutions after Baby comes

*most difficult to keep

**is this even realistic??

2010-12-13T11:30:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I made these Bookworm cupcakes for a Young Women book club activity. I love how they turned out, so I wanted to post the idea.

Here are a couple close-ups. The book is made out of stick gum and the dirt is crushed cookies. They were so easy to make.

miss clara

2010-11-23T18:40:00.000-08:00

clara got a haircut! she was sooo cute already and now with a little bob, i can't even handle it!!

messy chocolate ice cream eater

notice how she falls after getting up from falling. so funny.

yum.

2010-11-21T18:50:00.000-08:00

this week at the Farrar's, steak. don't you wish you were over for dinner?

tonights dinner night

2010-11-14T23:01:00.000-08:00

alicia and james missed a fun dinner night and yummy food. now you can get a peek at tonight with them.

the DELICIOUS food my dad made...like usual. i should start posting our sunday night dinners. the sauce on the meat was a dream.

miss clara was a hoot tonight.

saying "hi clara" to her spoon refleciton
leah made cookies with stephanie
trying on Papa's new cowboy boots
clara did not like wearing the boots.

clara and her jibber jabbering...such a cutie.

Untitled from monicaef on Vimeo.

more jibber jabber and cuteness.

Untitled from monicaef on Vimeo.

clara gets so excited to say hi to the dolls, that she calls baby's, everytime she comes over. she always has someone go back there and show them to her. she loves her babys.

Untitled from monicaef on Vimeo.

So grown up

2010-10-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

I finally had Leah's 4 year old photos taken. Here are a few of my favorites. We waited so long because she had been licking her lips and making them all chapped, so it took until now for her to stop that habit (since May). I am glad we waited though, because her haircut looks so grown up, and she has changed so much over the summer.

Here is Leah's true personality. Dont let those pretty poses fool you. Leah is a very silly girl. She wanted to take some funny photos to send to her cousins (Greyson & Aidan). So here is one of them.

Leah is a wonderful girl, so full of life. I admire her so much...she can find joy in the simplest of things...like going to get an oil change with Daddy, it is joyful because she gets to go through the car wash. What a 4 year old. All of you with 3 year olds...just hang in there, it will get better.

recent random

2010-09-06T15:58:00.000-07:00

no better way to fix your bedding but to climb in it
miss clara is so silly.
byu vs uw football game party
like me, leah choose to do something else than watch the football game
turns out my drawings make a great coloring page

dad singing us a song...he couldn't quite remember the melody.

miss clara

2010-08-21T12:12:00.000-07:00

clara's new faces that she will make on demand.

this one when you say "clara make cheese face"

this one when you say "clara scowl"
clara will NOT say "momma" but i caught it on video along with all her other fun faces and noises she makes. she is such a cutie!

how much does that thing weigh!?

2010-08-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

I saw this picture of me/my hair and thought, "It's no wonder I have neck problems."

leah rose

2010-08-16T20:37:00.000-07:00

this girl got a darling haircut.
i love love love when her hair is this short.
...
she is a pretty cool kid.
see more HERE.

I just love this

2010-08-11T21:43:00.000-07:00

2010-07-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

what is rob doing??
moments like this is why the game Cranium was invented.

sons in law

2010-07-18T16:11:00.000-07:00

When I went out to see if these guys needed help, I thought to myself, "Finally, Dad's daughters* are good for something."

*Jachen is not married to Monica, but he's there because of her, so she counts too

(Mark was there earlier, just not pictured.)

Jacob - they're not taking your place, just trying to live up to you:)

Elementary School writing journal

2010-06-21T11:04:00.000-07:00

October 26, 1987

On the weekend I got baptiesed it was fun my cousein did too. My teather came and my Bishup came it was fun we ate dinner at my ant's house. then we went to the plase I was getting baptiesed. then I got baptiesed. my cauesin did not want to get baptied but she did then we had cake and ice cream. then we went home. the end

November 10, 1987

Thankful. I am thankful for Anamails and people because thay make the world look better so it doesin't look dule and burring.

November 30, 1987

This weekend I went to the Huskie yung womons game it was in eastern Washington. It was fun. When the scor was 31 to 58 we made up a cheir EXTRA EXTRA read all about it Huskies going to make some points no dout about it.

December 3, 1987

If there wher no doorknobs.... I would not be abole to get in so I would be terafighted! mean! nasty! and I would have to be thode out of the house but!! ther would not be any doorknobs so ther!

December 14, 1987

On the weekend we deceratied are tree are great grandma came over. I found a star with the year when I was born on it. we had rootbeer flotes, mmm. then we had to get ready for bed. but we didn't ha! ha! ha!

January 19, 1988

This weekend I went to my dad's work he works at Nice wonger After that we had dinner for dinner we had chicken and Joe-Joes. the chicken wasn't cooked that good some of them wher bleeding. After dinner we went to REI. I firest (forced) my dad into letting me get a rope but when he said I could have one I didn't wont it.

February 16, 1988

This weekend I went to my aunt's house. I went outside to play. I wheur my rollerskats even now I couldn't skate in them. me and my cousin traided coats. She wheur my coat, and I wheur her jeen jacket. Then I went back in cause it's not fun to roller skate when you don't no how to. Then we played wheel of ferchin I was Vana White. One of the persons was Tom Selleck. I gave a hint, I said its one of the fathers on three men and a baby.

March 7, 1988

Halloween, Halloween, with goblins bright and ghosty nights, with witches mean and dule. But tricker treating is my best thing and going outdoors, going to partys and geting gum is mabee fun and cold, but!! when you get inside you mabee have to go in a hunted house, even if you do not want to.

March 21, 1988

The walk on the beach was dusty. When we were almost there, we heard laughing and shouting. My cousin said, "Let's hurry!" We ran to the beach there we saw a monkey, and children gathering around him he was juggaling shells we started laughing. THen the monkey thou the shells into the water, then he got some rocks. He started juggaling them he got a big ring and started jumping thou it. Then he got some people to do a song with him he picked my cousin the song was called lill, lage. After that we had to go home he gave all of us a peice of candy, when we got home we told my mom all a bout it, she thout we were making it up, what do you think.

Vote for me, Stephanie Farrar

2010-06-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

Who cares about history? I do! I care about changes and every thing else in history. That's why I think I should be the historian. A historian should be someone who is interested and cares about history, so they can put thought into the words they wright. I'm a responsible student who will keep the Hilltop records organized. I have experience because I help in my family council at home, I'm the family reporter. And I write in my own personal journal everyday. Why I injoy history because you know about the changes, so you have an idea of the future, and if people didn't write down things that happened in history, later generations wouldn't know about them. One my most favorite things to do is sit at my dads desk and pretend I'm a jounalest. So, if you pick me as the historian you're picking a responsible student.

VOTE FOR ME, STEPHANIE FARRAR.

*I found this in a box today - Hilltop was my elementary school, it must've been 4th or 5th grade. I didn't edit spelling. I wasn't elected and never ran for office again :(

happy fathers day paparoo!

2010-06-20T14:54:00.000-07:00

this be him, the bruce gordon farrar we have all been talking about. it is his fathers day today. he is a 'pretty darn good' father, that's no tall tale. us farrar kids were raised with love, trust, support, jokes, goofing off, bum swats, teaching moments, hugs, hand holding, special moments, hard work, dish duty, culture, long car rides, vacations, sacrifice, great stories and a love for what is good and right. we say thanks dad.

My Precious One Year Old, Clara

2010-06-11T23:55:00.000-07:00

Clara's 1 year pictures were taken today, they turned out so cute.
I just wanted to share them. Enjoy!

Another Sunday evening

2010-05-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

Leah and Aidan play, Clara entertains us (her first tantrum plus some kisses).

Leah's birthday!

2010-05-19T22:16:00.001-07:00

Rob's latest video - for your enjoyment. Great party, Natalie, and happy birthday to the four year old!

PS. He's for hire now... or soon... but is probably available if you have something in mind

The girls on a sunday

2010-04-25T15:26:00.000-07:00

Devastation!

2010-04-22T22:55:00.000-07:00

Today I feel like a good friend called me up out of the blue and told me she never wants to be my friend again. I am confused, I am angry at why I didn't see this coming, and I am sad because the relationship meant a lot to me. Well, this didn't happen....but I did get word that MY scrapbook store is closing. Lasting Memories. I have a dear connection with this store. I used to work there, and so have my sisters. It is the source of my creativity. With out it I will not be able to do my creative projects with such ease. I am really devastated. Why didn't I know? Couldn't they have let me prepare for this? I have die cuts to make for a card that is due next week...and now I am stuck, with out the comfort of MY store that is just down the road, that has everything I need. It has been ripped out of my life, and cannot easily be replaced. A huge part of my life is doing creative projects for other people...well now what? I don't know. I feel betrayed. Is it silly to cry over a scrapbook store?

karen is her name

2010-03-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

it is momma's birthday today.
she might look 40 but trust me, she is not. i won't reveal her age.
you have never seen someone look soo good in coral, green and purple.

haPpy BIRthdaY!!

2010-03-17T12:15:00.000-07:00

was looking through stephanie's wedding photos today and came across this one i took.

well looky what i found

2010-03-07T13:40:00.000-08:00

turns out pop is on a website. who knew!

see HERE

see I have a chin

2010-03-02T23:01:00.000-08:00

The 2 princesses last Sunday at Papa and Grandma's (looking at pictures on Leah's camera that she took!)

2010-02-20T14:26:00.001-08:00

i have some great siblings.

BIRTHDAY BOY

2010-02-11T08:57:00.000-08:00

today is someone's birthday...

click HERE to find out!

The Last Few Weeks

2010-02-08T22:46:00.000-08:00

Monica, this post is for you. We miss you and want you to see what the girls are up to.

Mark is Home Now

2010-02-04T08:14:00.000-08:00

Sorry I didn't post sooner. Mark came home the night of the 29th (8 days in the hospital). He is feeling much better. He has replaced all his blood and his heart rate is finally normal. He is undergoing treatment to fight off the antibodies that caused this mess. They still don't know exactly what caused all of this but have a couple theories which we are pursuing with specialists. But we are happy to have him home. Thank you all for your concern and prayers. It is so comforting to know how much support we have from friends and family.

cousins

2010-01-29T20:52:00.000-08:00

Leah loves her cousins and they love her too. She loves Aidan's superhero clothes (sometimes will wear his Batman underwear, shh don't tell anyone...they are clean). Last week when she was over it got pretty late so she borrowed some cool jammies to wear home!

The difference between boy superheros and girl superheros!

Waiting...

2010-01-26T23:26:00.000-08:00

My husband is in the Hospital. It has been 4 1/2 days now. The wait is starting to wear on me, and I miss him. If you read this, please keep him in your prayers. There are still so many unknowns. But I hope for the best, or at least that he will come home soon. His little girls need him.

(for those of you who don't know, he went to the hospital with an extremely LOW blood count. They found antibodies attacking his red blood cells and he had lost 2/3 of his blood, amongst other things. So they are trying to figure out why. They are testing him for auto immune diseases, cancer, you name it, they have drawn blood for it. That is the gist of it.)

a tacher outing

2010-01-14T22:11:00.000-08:00

last week natalie, me and the girls went to the Mukilteo library for story time and then after we went to Starbucks for some yummy hot drinks and treats. then we went back to their house where we had lunch and played with jewelry beads. i love being with them.

dads dream fulfilled

2010-01-09T20:08:00.000-08:00

since dad was young he has always wanted to walk across the aurora bridge in seattle so the other day him and i did just that. before we made it to the bridge we made a few stops to...

return the yellow kayak to its owner. dad had borrowed it from his organization Washington Water Trails.

we stopped by the office of Washington Water Trails which is found in this cool building. this building used to be a catholic boarding school and now its used to house the offices of non profit organizations and also has apartments for artists to live in. hey, im an artist i should move there.
then dad and i went to lunch at lockspot cafe that is right next to ballard locks. it felt very fisherman like. i had their "world famous" fish and chips. (picture of lockspot not mine)

then we headed to the bridge...

dad pulled out the binoculars which turned out to be a bit tricky to see out of.

it was a dreary and chilly day out there so we will return in the summertime to the other side of the bridge.

stoccer ball

2010-01-01T20:31:00.000-08:00

oh leah, you are funny. in all, but the last video of her, i gave leah a word and she told a little story using that word. she is one smart 3 year old.
we can't forget about clara who laughs when you say "hi tree"...well when natalie does it.

Merry Christmas! Love, the Farrars

2009-12-27T19:01:00.001-08:00

Including the Florida Farrars and minus grandsons Greyson and Aidan

(pardon the way we look, it was barely 8am pacific standard time)

not just Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T22:20:00.000-08:00

Today was Monica's birthday and I've been thinking about her all day. There are some really great things about Monica. Here are a few:

1. She takes excellent photos - of my wedding, for example
2. She likes to ride with the windows down and the music loud during the summer
3. She has lots of clothes, sharing a room with her was great
4. She also has lots of accessories.
5. She gives me advice on outfits and potential clothes purchases - even from far away when I send her a picture of me in a dressing room on my cell phone
6. She's not afraid to go to a concert by herself.
7. She likes to workout with me
8. She makes awesome mix cds
9. She wears the same shoe size as me
10. She's a good dancer - danced hip hop in high school
11. She lives art
12. She makes good life decisions
13. One Christmas we woke up in the morning to pictures of Christ hanging all over. She had prepared a "lesson" with scriptures - it made that Christmas meaningful
14. She's not shy anymore. I still remember the first time she asked a store clerk a question on her own. I was like, "that's not Monica."
15. She's taught herself to cook (after avoiding it for a long time!)
16. Speaking of cooking - she once added milk to boxed brownies instead of water. When asked why, she said, "I don't know, milk just goes with brownies."
17. She's good at keeping friends
18. She's a Sagittarius (that's Rob's mom's contribution. I asked what that means about Monica and she said, "she'll take forever to get married cause she'll take forever to pick from all her choices. she's a lifetime learner, always wanting to learn something new. she's more interested in learning something than actually doing something.")
19. her taste in music is improving
20. speaking of music, I once chastised her for having a bunch of songs on a mix tape with a lot of swearing. I later made fun of her for having a mix tape with Christian rock music on it. I found out later she had taped over the swearing with the Christian rock and I felt both proud and horrible.
21. when we were little I once cut her hair and told my mom that she did it (okay, that's not necessarily something I like about Monica - just a funny story)
22. she's good at sleeping and shopping
23. she's independent in her testimony of the Gospel (I think that Christmas morning was the first time I knew that for sure). that's a sigh of relief for a big sister
24. she's always up for a narcissistic photo shoot (see below)
25. We don't last too long before we're arguing about something (like, she thinks my outfit is dorky or something), but I still get very excited when she's about to come home again!

Okay - I got to 25 and since that's how old she turned today, I'll stop there.

Happy Day, Monicorn! My 25 was yucky, if you felt that way at all today, I hope you know you are awesome and we love you and you'll do great things.

This one's for you monica!

2009-11-23T13:44:00.001-08:00

Flashback to Halloween '09. The Tacher family all dressed up for the first time. We were all Pirates, and baby Clara was our parrot. You like Mark's wig?

Halloween day, in halloween outfits

Clara in a kitty hat, that was way too small, though it fit Leah at this age.

Here are some other random pictures I have taken over the last month....enjoy Monica, and others too, like Jacob & Lisa.

Clara decided she wanted to crawl, this was around Halloween...well now she is getting to be a pro at it. She picked it up really fast, and she is already pulling herself up to stand.

bunch of wackos

2009-11-19T02:26:00.000-08:00

i have been looking through old folders and HEY remember when i sent you all this picture?
still is funny.

hey nat.

2009-11-18T12:31:00.000-08:00

i am sure you have some pics of those little girls of yours....

food storage and emergency preparedness

2009-09-30T21:32:00.000-07:00

My Aunt Susan, knowing I was interested in food storage, told me about the website Food Storage Made Easy. It’s pretty great and you should check it out. They recently hosted a 7-day challenge as a way to test your level of preparedness with the food storage and emergency kits that you have, which is a really great idea! I have to admit, I was too intimidated by the challenge and didn’t actually do it. But, in an effort to learn more (and get a coupon for one of their products just by making this post), I read up on responses from people who DID actually participate in the challenge. So, here's what I could have learned: (By the way, this is great timing - General Conference time is the time of year I want to designate to reviewing and improving our emergency preparedness)

Day 1: Natural Disaster -”It’s a Flood”

We totally don't have a family meeting place - and I think that's the scariest of all. We need to decide on one. I don't know if we should have a few options...? Like at BYU all the wards have emergency plans. Our ward was supposed to meet on this one field, but if that was gone, there was another place to meet.
We would have done fine with eating food from our Emergency kits for the day and we have a first-aid kit in their too. (we each have our own in each car so it's accessible when we're at home or when we're on the road).
We don't have a "grab" list for if we have to leave the house quickly. It's hard to think of what I have that I couldn't live without, to be quite honest.
Cooking without power and all the food in the fridge is spoiled!? Cereal w/ powdered milk for everyone!

Day 2: Pandemic -”Time for Quarantine”

I was feeling pretty good about this one, we have extra toilet paper (I finally have Rob convinced on the importance of having a storage of items like this - even if that means huge Costco pack of tp). Then the last rule of this challenge, which is that we have to wear face masks. We don't have those yet, we've been meaning to ask Rob's mom if she can get some from her work but we should just buy them.
A lot of people on the website and facebook have good ideas for sanitizing, we are lacking in that area too, I guess

Day 3: Every Day Emergency -”Dinner Guests?!?!”

I love two things about this challenge - I love that it's for an every day emergency. It can be hard for people (me too until recently) to imagine a natural or financial disaster, but those everyday emergencies can be alleviated by having food storage or cash reserve, or car kit, etc. One time when Rob and I were dating I took him on a drive to one of my favorite places. It was Sunday and he was starving. Rob is not his pleasant self when starving. No worries - I had a car kit in the trunk and he had his choice of a granola bar or applesauce cup! The other thing I love is that people actually did it - they reported on the dinner they made that night!
I think I'm pretty set on this one. We eat from our food storage a couple times a week and, because I'm my father's daughter, there's always a side dish or two!
Someone made the comment about the real challenge being not getting in a fight with the husband during this - she probably means because he invited the guests unexpectedly in the first place. However, I think just the stress of an everyday situation (not to mention natural disaster or financial disaster!) is something that can be avoided by, not only being prepared, but by "practicing." Eating food storage, reviewing emergency kits together, talking about these things. ordering food from the cannery together, etc. Doing challenges like this one.

Day 4: Economic Crisis -”Money is TIGHT!”

It just occurred to me that by this day, I would not have been able to spend any money for 4 days - and there's 3 more days!
I don't know the first thing about how to deal w/ having the water turned off. There are good ideas in the comments for how to substitute for toilet water, etc, but I would just be stressed out.
Also, I sure hope these emergencies occur before we have children, and not after, ever.

Day 5: Natural Disaster -”Earthquake!”

Total flunk. No car shovel, no computer back-up. We have food in the freezer - but no way to cook it or heat it (or make a smoothie with it).
This brings to mind what we should be asking for for Christmas

Day 6: Diet Disaster -”Healthy lifestyle”

Thank you, Weight Watchers. And, I missed my workout to write this blog.
PS. I don't actually know what "from scratch" means. Maybe I do this most of the time already?

Day 7: Every Day Emergency -”Why Didn’t you Ask for this Sooner?”

I have powdered milk, but not the other items (shelf-stable butter or eggs). No bake cookies? I actually feel confident that I could come up with a few things that don't require butter or eggs. I won't think of them now because I'm tired, and also because I might be wrong and I don't want to be (but Stephanie, in a real emergency, you don't have the luxury of being wrong).
I guess I could have completed this challenge by asking a neighbor. But, ahh, we have been ultra lame about getting to know our neighbors, which is an important lesson. I'll want to be on good terms with them if I'm needing their help, if I'm needing to survive something with them, etc.

thanks nylands!

2009-09-27T21:18:00.001-07:00

For Sunday Dinner Stephanie and Rob spoiled us by cooking us DELICIOUS Indian food. They will have to say what everything was, I just know that it tasted yummy in my tummy. Some people's tummies got too full (see pictures below). My favorite was the naan that Rob grilled on the BBQ. Y-um!!! Thanks again Nylands!

James liked dinner, he ate too much. Darn Fast Sunday for shrinking your stomach:

four months old now!!

2009-09-23T22:52:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Monica (the pro blogger) I can now post. My baby is four months old today! Leah and I took some pics of Miss Clara...Leah was my assistant, mostly helping her smile and look at the camera.

What a pretty girl....or am I just biased?

You gotta love that face...she gets no sympathy around here with a cute boo boo lip like that.

Leah wanted a turn at the camera....so she took this one, not too shabby. Speaking of Leah...the next three photos are of her jumping, her new favorite past time (our downstairs neighbor must hate us). She lines up toys and jumps over them, lines up diapers and jumps over them, she even trys to jump over the baby...which gets her in trouble. So here's Leah and one of her many talents, she's jumping over the baby's blanket.

frustrated!!

2009-09-23T22:39:00.000-07:00

So, I finally download pictures off my camera, and I am determined to blog today, and then......it is not working...it will not let me upload images......aaaaah! I will try again tomorrow. So stay tuned for recent pics of Miss Clara.

the usual.

2009-08-30T23:58:00.000-07:00

we have family dinner every sunday.
one common event that takes place after eating is watching slide shows of pictures from our cameras that have taken place since the last sunday, or just main events or outings. in the first video, we are looking at pictures from a week long kayak trip mark and dad went on with the scouts in our ward.

also, we enjoy a good performance. stephanie and i recently went clothes shopping and we bought the same black shirt. she wore it to dinner tonight and alicia decided to put mine on to be matchy matchy with her.

a bruce we call dad

2009-08-30T22:51:00.000-07:00

dadeo.
find more images of this kooky man here.

2009-08-28T14:03:00.000-07:00

she likes to hold the ukulele like a violin.

so professional.
the sticker belt she made.
can't forget baby Clara.

on repeat

2009-08-25T20:44:00.000-07:00

Wikipedia says I was 21 when this song was on the radio, and that's about how old I'm feeling as I listen to it. That, or 18 or 14. I was reading my friend Laurel's blog when it started playing on her blog playlist. Since then it's been on repeat and I've been freaking out!

Is there anyone else out there who LOVES this song? I don't even think I loved it this much when it was actually on the radio (okay, I probably did).

The only question remaining is: who is cuter, Evan or Jaron!? See, I'm a 14 year old.

crawdad anyone?

2009-08-14T00:27:00.000-07:00

the other night dad and i went to ikea not to shop for lamps but to eat crayfish. it was ikea's third annual crayfish party, all you can eat. we went with peggy and dennis hartup and the green family. we arrived at ikea, found a spot in line and awaited to be let in and handed bibs and party hats. this event required tickets purchased in advance to control the crayfish eating mases. after we found our seat, i looked around and saw what people were bringing back to their tables. UMM...they had faces! i didn't think about that. i put all fear of creatures staring back at me aside and filled my plate. scary to open at first, a bit salty but pretty good.

dad waiting in line next to ikea wonders.
the mases

said creature staring back at me
dennis and dad

their remains. r.i.p.
how to open/eat a crayfish(crawdad)....we did all this minus the head juices sucking.

baby clara...and leah

2009-08-09T21:08:00.000-07:00

natalie showed us these pictures tonight during family slide show and as you can see they are very cute. so i decided to aid her in posting them.

The Commish

2009-08-06T17:17:00.001-07:00

We loved this show!

Season 1 is on Hulu!

http://www.hulu.com/the-commish

old school

2009-07-31T14:36:00.000-07:00

some videos i stumbled upon today.

plea.

2009-07-22T17:34:00.000-07:00

okay, so which sister wants to come over and help me pack?

im packing the majority of my life right now so i dont have to worry about it come graduation in december.

oh what a task.

2009-07-10T22:55:00.000-07:00

you may have all seen this photograph already, but i love it so much. i have had this picture saved on my desktop for a few days now. just cuz i love it.

I had these on the computer

2009-07-06T22:54:00.000-07:00

Grandpa Bill (Dad's Dad)

Papa (Mom's dad)

Curry Fest 2009

2009-06-23T21:47:00.000-07:00

Everyone contributed to one our best Sunday dinners yet (not pictured: The Tacher's Japanese Curry)

James and I made "Cheesecake Factory Bang Bang Chicken and Shrimp" and man was it good, it was fun making it with my husband (we even roasted the coconut in the oven)

This is what it looked like all on the same plate

Rob was a fan of Curry Fest

Natalie made this fruity dessert

the baby

2009-06-23T21:39:00.000-07:00

Adorable

happy fathers day!

2009-06-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

beards are in again dad.
happy fathers day! we love you!
you have always been one hip dude.

still makes me laugh

2009-06-20T11:51:00.001-07:00

feeling the itch, taking the plunge

2009-06-05T15:04:00.000-07:00

It's that time again.

Leah, Clara and their favorite aunt!

2009-05-31T14:03:00.000-07:00

Introducing...

2009-05-25T07:38:00.001-07:00

Clara Adeline Tacher!

Leah's 3rd Birthday!

2009-05-21T21:38:00.001-07:00

Leah's 3rd Birthday was last Saturday the 16th. We had a party at my parent's house with family and a few friends. I cant believe my baby is three already, time has gone by so fast. I've had requests to see these pics so beware there are a lot of them. I figured this was my last chance to have all the say about her party. I'm sure next year she will have her own ideas about what she wants....so I enjoyed all the preparations. I decided to do an L party (L is for Leah).

Here's the cake I spent 2.5 hours decorating...aah, what was I thinking? My back hurt so bad after that. The things I do for my kids. It was 4 layers, lemon and chocolate alternating, with cream cheese frosting...it was pretty yummy.
I made sugar cookie L's as give-aways, Leah helped me decorate them. They were in little bags, cute. Why do I love silly things like this? I made a bunch of L's to decorate with, and also used her latest studio pictures.
Here's the table spread. If you havent noticed, the colors are orange and turquoise. We had balloons all over with paper L's on them.

I made paper garlands, my new favorite thing....they are mass cute.

The food/treats all started with L. So I made "lollipops" which were brownie balls and rice krispie balls. There was also, lemon heads, licorice, lemon bars, layered dip, and lemonade.

I expreimented with fondant for the first time. It was not as hard as I always thought. The letters and small flowers are fondant.

Alicia had a great idea for a game....pin the glasses on Leah. It turned out to be really fun, and Leah thought it was pretty funny, although she didnt want to play. (she's shy you know) I had to put this pic in because I dont even really look pregnant in it...although I am due a week later.
So here's what we were trying to accomplish.
All the kids waiting in line, smallest to tallest.
The big kid who finished the game off, he totally missed it.
What the picture ended up looking like. Funny.
This one shows my belly a bit better, and Marks too....sympathy weight gain on his part.
Just a semi nice picture of the two of us. too bad we forgot to get a picture with Leah. So there was the party. I was relieved to have it over. Now I am ready for the baby to come any day now.

oh mother

2009-05-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

well yesterday was mothers day. we are thankful for many things our mother has done for us one of which is we are all most thankful mom stopped cutting hers and our hair. thanks mom.

(ps that baby is me. cute huh?)

Tres de Mayo

2009-05-07T15:37:00.001-07:00

The Tacher Familia

Eating Tacos

The Taco Bar

Dad "cooking" the tortillas

The Nylands showing off their moves

I haven't blogged in so long that I forgot that I have to upload the photos backwards...they are not in order. I hate that. P.S. And how do I center the captions under photos but not the rest of the text?

We celebrated Cinco de Mayo this year on Sunday (hence the name, tres de Mayo). We had a grand fiesta! So good. We ate food, lots of yummy food, listened to Latin music/watched the Mariners go into extra innings (they ended up winning! Go M's!). This was one of our best party. Thanks Mom and Dad for hosting such a great time.

3.2.1 JUMP!

2009-04-17T16:50:00.000-07:00

Here is some video to enjoy from Alicia's Wedding. Sorry for the poor quality, but enjoy the silly picture taking!

car dancing

2009-04-16T20:57:00.000-07:00

leah, natalie and dolly rocking out.

Glenn Beck

2009-04-13T09:03:00.001-07:00

watch all 7. seriously.

yessss

2009-04-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

im leaving for home today!
the semester is over(well in a few hours) and i am so ready for a week break in the best place on earth. home here i come!

I wish I had cable at a time like this. Or Monica home. Or Jenaca living close by.

2009-02-19T19:56:00.001-08:00

My husband is at some dumb (lightning bolt) Priesthood meeting, and now there's no one to eat pizza with. I'm so lonesome that I'm eating it straight off the cutting board. And with no cable television and no chick flicks in the house, I'm stuck watching The Man Who Knew Too Little. I don't actually know what's going on in the movie, as I'm distracted with this post, but Bill Murray is funny even without a story line.

Also, I'm so lonesome that I'm about to brag about the pizza I made. It's sundried tomatoes baked on homemade wheat dough, topped with fresh spinach leaves, balsalmic and shaved parmesan. Oh. Yum.

And another view...

evidence that I'm a grown-up

2009-02-17T10:14:00.000-08:00

I make this food and enjoy eating it, rather than throw up at the sight of it.

Chunky Vegetable Paella:
zuchini, diced tomato, onion, red pepper, and white beans all over brown rice.

skype!

2009-02-13T09:02:00.000-08:00

yay i got a skype call yesterday! i talked with the Tachers for a bit and then we decided to call Jacob on three way. however, three way makes you lose visual feed so that was a bummer.

keep those skype calls coming!

jacob michael

2009-02-11T10:35:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday Jacob!!

dear family,

2009-02-11T01:04:00.000-08:00

dear family, i will need one of two things to happen. either we get our skype on or some video of family members needs to be posted on here.

i am liking the skype choice. family skype me! if i knew how to initiate a skype call i would do so. okay now you know.

thank you,

monica

Go Royals!

2009-02-02T15:01:00.000-08:00

How ironic, to reunite with high school friends... at the mall.

TaVaun and I found Jaime (or she found us?) on facebook. Shortly after, Jaime and TaVaun decided to get together for lunch, and because all of the plans were made on each other's facebook walls - I found out about it and invited myself along!

My how we've changed - and for the better, too!

Afterwards, TaVaun came to my place and I was able to show off my apartment to her. I wish I took some pictures of Nevaeh chasing Rob around the apartment. I like her so much! She's the cute one with pigtales in the picture. Here's another cute one of Ava, Jaime's cute little girl. I was babyless.

Because

2009-01-16T15:22:00.000-08:00

We don't do anything fun when you're gone. We're too busy missing you.

WHY?

2009-01-16T09:51:00.000-08:00

Why is no one posting anything for me, all the way in Idaho, to know what you are all doing??

christmas time

2008-12-29T21:01:00.001-08:00

we went to grandma adeline's christmas preformance

we couldn't make it to the carousel this year because of the snow so that night alicia and steph reenacted it for the little ones. also watch how leah tells greyson what she got him for christmas.

i mean really, leah is too cute!

us being a little photo obsessed. listen for the funny freak out by stephanie

at christmas eve. my cousins playing Wii Boxing...scott was having a hard time.

leah and i dancing on christmas night. since then she has been wanting to listen to this song and dance.

a peak at our Christmas season.

family pictures

2008-12-26T19:27:00.000-08:00

for our parents for christmas we took family pictures for them.

jacob and lisa's wedding

2008-12-18T17:50:00.000-08:00

jacob asked me to edit his wedding photos, here are a few jacob.

Skype.

2008-12-05T21:16:00.000-08:00

Jacob in our living room.

3 things

2008-12-03T22:34:00.000-08:00

#1 - the best thing happened to me this morning. My alarm went off at 6:50. I turned over and saw that Rob's alarm said 5:50. I checked my cell phone - 5:50. Sweet!

#2 - once again, I've lost the dang cord that attaches the camera to the computer, so we are back to blogging w/o pictures, which is boring to me. Plus, I took some really great pictures of me eating yummy chips and of our new wall art that I have been wanting to post.

#3 - Last night Rob and I were looking on the Deseret Books website, and it reminded me of how it used to feel living in Utah, being surrounded by church culture. 10 minutes ago, we happen upon lds.org to find that Elder Worthlin passed away. I feel so out of the loop. Rob and I read his talk for family night a couple of weeks ago. I recommend reading it, if you're like us, you may have been distracted by the difficult manner that he presented his talk and missed the wonderful lessons. Rob and I have made small steps to follow this counsel, in particular, "The next time you’re tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable."

my quick gratitude list

2008-11-27T22:38:00.001-08:00

A - Arrested Development
B - books on cd
C - curry
D - duvet cover
...I promise, not all of these are shallow...
E - education
F - family
G - Gospel
H - husband
I - in-laws
J - Jake N' Bake (aka. Jake your booty)
K - kitchen aid
L - Leah
M - make-over shows
N - new babies in the family
O - Obama
P - parents
Q - Queen Elizabeth (not really)
R - Relief Society
S - sisters
T - Team Nyland
U - USA! USA!
V - vacation from work
W - Weight Watchers
X - nothing really starts with X
Z - or Z

happy birthday monicorn

2008-11-26T21:06:00.000-08:00

We love you!

videos from this weekend you WILL want to check out

2008-11-24T00:53:00.000-08:00

flashback one

2008-11-23T19:48:00.000-08:00

sunday dinner night

2008-11-15T17:03:00.001-08:00

can we please have more of these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with pumpkin ice cream?
so cute, leah went up on the couch and set next to grandma and put her arm up behind her. they are buddies.

leah calling alicia

on the phone with lindsay

part two

2008-11-09T15:43:00.001-08:00

trick or treat

2008-10-30T21:59:00.000-07:00

leah practicing trick or treating. sooo darling.

snugglefest

2008-10-30T21:33:00.000-07:00

leah and dad enjoying watching Pushing Daisies together. leah wanted to lay by papa. she kept trying to fit next to him, it was cute.

farrar family fright night

2008-10-29T00:43:00.000-07:00

we randomly decided to have a halloween themed dinner, in which everyone was just to bring something spooky or halloweenish. everyone showed up nervous about their dishes, but it turned out delicious. we had a random assortment of beef and bones(as seen in the previous post), mummy pizza, bone breadsticks, lil smokey brains, taco bean dip and for dessert graveyard cake and homemade pumpkin pie ice cream. it was a lot of fun!