Baby Blessing, Birthday Party, and Fall Leaves

I've been meaning to post pictures of my new niece for a month now... But I kept losing them through some technical difficulty or another. My niece was blessed yesterday by her dad, my brother. We are so excited to have this beautiful little girl in our family!

Other than the fact that they're quite tired (as new parents often are), my brother his wife are, of course, thrilled by her, too.

One of the nicest part of the blessings, for me, was the opportunity to spend some quality time with my brother and with my nephew. The new big brother had a pretty full week between his birthday parties and Halloween and then all of the excitement of his sister's blessing. He wasn't really in the mood for sacrament meeting.

As soon as church was and he could get outside, he grabbed my hand and headed for home. He was so happy to be heading home that, even though it was raining, he ran and laughed the whole way.

Of course, that wasn't the only event of the day. My oldest nephew turned 8 yesterday. So after the blessing, we went to my Grandpa's house for Sunday dinner and a birthday party. He got lots of Pokemon (his favorite thing). Plus, Grandpa had raked all of the leaves in his yard into a big pile and the cousins climbed in and had a great time burying themselves and having "leafball fights". They were also good enough to pose for a few pictures. These two are really great friends. You'd think they were brother and sister, they are so close.

This wasn't my niece's first time in the leaves this week, either. A few days before she'd come to my house for the afternoon. She helped me with some gardening. (She loves Veggietales, and thus was more than happy to pick all of the "Bob's" (tomatoes) in my garden to make room for a leafpile. Here's my favorite picture from that day's fun.

If you know me, you know that all of this constitutes a GREAT weekend for me. I love kids! Getting to spend some quality kid time with my nieces and nephews is always a treat!

I'm so lucky to be an aunt! I can't even imagine my life without kids. My nieces and nephews keep me young

Hockey Opening Night

The hockey season is finally back! The Grizzlies played their home opener last Friday night. And we were able to kick off the season with a party for our whole family.

A couple of months ago, Howie told me he'd entered a contest to win a suite for opening night. He was sure his odds were good, and... well, they must have been... Because he won the suite.
We rounded up some of our family members to join us in the suite and celebrate. Some are seasoned hockey fans. Others were there for their first time and just learning the rules.

Howie did his best to get a picture that fit all of us into the frame. By the 10th take, we weren't smiling quite as nicely.

Our niece Bella has great hockey fan potential. When the game started she just knew that our team was trying to beat the "Alaskans". By the end, she'd paid enough attention to my explanations of what was happening that she could follow the game pretty well.

The Grizzlies didn't disappoint in this home game. Even though Alaska is a pretty tough team, the final score was 7-2 Grizzlies. 12 different Grizzlies scored during the game. They even got a bit fiesty by the end and we saw a couple of fights. It was a well played game and a very exciting way to start the season.


And, of course, with his black eye, Howie fully looked the part of a hockey fan. And, in true gameday fashion, he screamed so loud he lost his voice and got to teach Elder's Quorum two days later with half a voice.

Hoping to fill a dining room table

I hae a confession to make. Last weekend, Brian and I bought an enormous oak dining room table. Without the leaf, it seats 6-8 people. With the leaf... well, it's just big.

This may not seem like a typical purchase for a family of two. We don't exactly take up a lot of room. It seems even more impractical if you add in the cost of having to now get all new tablecloths because few of mine fit a table this large. But we just do things like this sometimes.

We are hoping and praying for the day when our family grows. Maybe even enough to fill our dining room table. And, even though it doesn't make much practical sense, we just can't help working to get ourselves ready for that day. Therefore, not only do we have a big dining room table. We've got a drawer full of cute little baby clothes. We've got a room set aside as a nursery. We collect children's books and toys and little fuzzy ducky slippers. I've picked out a crib. (Though I haven't bought it yet) and am working on figuring out what else a nursery needs. And, even though I often feel like I'm breaking some unspoken rule by being there, I just can't help wandering through the baby department when I've got a few extra minutes in a store.

In the meantime, we are lucky to have friends and family who help to play with our toys and eat at our table. One of our favorite traditions is inviting a family over for dinner and games. We love to share our home with our friends. So I guess that's a good reason to have a big table, too.

Hockey Weekend

The past weekend was spent being avid hockey fans.

The activities started on Friday night. Our local ECHL hockey team had an scrimage that was open to the public. Chicken and I attended a practice last year and really enjoyed getting to see the players before they were in games. Not to mention that it was the first time in 5 months that I could see hockey in person.

Saturday was a season ticket holder event. We were told that the coach would introduce his players, we could watch practice, and then skate with the players. We arrived a few minutes late, I'm not sure if the players were actually introduced, but oh well. It was fun to watch more practice. Then for the first time in many, many years for me, we put on ice skates, and got out on the ice.

While there, we decided we needed tickets with the team's mascot. We skated up and asked if we could take a picture with him. He wanted the camera. He took a picture, then we each took turns.

Back in July I donated some money to the MDA one of the percs of that was 6 invitations to skate with the team. We invited some friends and family. We had a lot of fun skating. I got up the courage to talk to one of the players. One of our favorite players to watch is Kazuma Takahashi. I just chatted with him about his trip home to Japan over the summer. All in all it was a fun time on the ice.

Fireworks in the rain

Have you ever watched fireworks in the rain? Well, we did it for the first time last Saturday.

My family all goes to the fireworks in the town where my parents live each year. And every year, since I got home from my mission, Howie and I have taken his sister and niece with us to these fireworks. This year, even Howie's sister was on her honeymoon, we decided that we should still take our niece. So we picked her up in the early evening. She helped me cook dinner, and then we went to meet my family at the fireworks.

The skies looked ominous all afternoon and, well, just as we were arriving, the heavens opened and it started to rain. It was only heavy for a bit, and then just started sprinkling. But, all of my family was there sitting in their cars, so we decided to wait and see. (Calling each other on our cell phones and running between cars to talk, share treats, and play games.)

Minutes before the show was due to start, the rain stopped. So, we climbed out and went to watch. But, just as Rihanna's "Umbrella" came on in the music accompanying the fireworks came on, it started to rain again. You would have thought it had been ordered that way. Fortunately, the grand finale came next, so we didn't mind so much staying there and getting wet. Besides, it was one of those moments you'll probably never forget.