Random Cuteness and a Pretty Picture

One of the things I love about Sacramento -- leaves actually change color here. Isn't that beautiful? (This is from the grounds at the Sacramento Temple.)

Josh likes to take the kids to the temple grounds sometimes and just let them hang out. The temple is not too far from Alek's school and it's just pretty there and there is a huge open area where they can just walk around. This picture is from their most recent trip. Katie and Alek are such hams.

Charlie's hair is naturally curly, for now. His hair started doing this swoopy thing on the sides after it was washed. It doesn't really do it now that it's a little longer, so I'm glad we managed to capture it on film. It was a simple thing that just made Josh and me laugh and laugh.

Charlie is great at making a mess out of himself when he eats. He rubs food into his eyes and hair and all over his chest. This is a picture from when we ate stuffed shells.

Charlie in his bat jammies. These are the same bat jammies Alek wore when he was little. Charlie was very proud of himself for climbing up on the desk and then managing to clear off a space to turn around and sit down. He used to just get stuck up there on all fours.

Katie's Birthday

I've finally decided to live up to my word and post some family updates, but they won't be in chronological order, just to make things extra confusing for you.

Katie celebrated her 3rd birthday on November 3rd. We decided just to have a small party at home. Mommy likes avoiding the stress of big parties, especially during her busiest time at work. Not to mention the fact that our house is not really big enough to entertain more than a couple of people at a time.

Looking through the selection, I realized I didn't really get good pictures of Katie's birthday. But I got some good video, so I'm posting one of those. And I hope you all enjoy it. You would not believe how long it took to upload this 48 second video.

Katie is delightful. She is funny, sweet, expressive, and energetic. We all love the fun she brings into our home. It's been fun watching her grow and change and turn into a little girl.

Christmas Spirit at Work

I swear I am going to post some family pictures soon.

First, I need to write about how I work at the best place in the world. We have so much fun here. Today, we had an ugly holiday sweater party at work. We had hot cocoa and treats and there were prizes awarded for the most creative/tackiest ensembles.

My department won best overall department spirit, my manager won the overall award (the So Jolly, It's Time 2 Party award), and I won the JeanneMarie award (JeanneMarie is a lady I work with who wears tacky holiday sweaters without any prompting. She has a good sense of humor, thankfully.) for the best use of natural assets. I realize that sounds bad, but hopefully this picture will explain it.

It was a lot of fun. So many people went all out and there were some truly hideous sweaters out there. I don't think I deserved to win at all, but it was nice to win anyway. I couldn't have done it without my friend, Farrah, who found a holiday sweatshirt for me last night without me even asking her to. She's so awesome.

Mostly, I just can't express how grateful I am to work where I do. It's hard to be away from my kids all day, but since staying home is not currently an option, I feel really blessed to work at such a wonderful place and with such amazing, generous, fun people. This past year has been especially enjoyable, and there is an off chance I might actually miss this place when I'm on maternity leave in the spring.

My department (minus one)

Group Photo

Update on Family Coming Soon

In the meantime, take a few minutes to read a couple of interesting articles about Thanksgiving.

Article about circumstances surrounding first national Thanksgiving observation

Article about Thanksgiving history and ways we can teach our children about the holiday

I'm So Glad It's Friday

Human beings were not made to work 12 days in a row. At least, not this human being.

Always on My Mind

Some day, I'd really like to be able to blog about my life again. But I can't stop thinking about Prop 8. First, I'd just like to say that I truly believe it is a miracle that it passed. I was overjoyed and still am so amazed at the outcome.

But since about 5 p.m. on November 5, I've just been frustrated and trying so hard not to be angry. I knew that people would be upset and I knew that this was going to end up back in the courts.

Perhaps I am naive, but what I was not expecting was this and this and this and this. I'm particularly upset by this last article. To attempt to ruin the career and reputation of a man because he exercised his right as an American citizen to contribute to a political cause he believes in -- that is unconscionable. Surely the California Music Theater can't get away with firing him, can they? I hope they wouldn't even try. It's completely unethical and wrong. Not only am I appalled by the reaction of the oh-so-tolerant GLBT community, I am appalled by the completely biased tone of the article. In fact, the media seems to have completely given up on any efforts to be unbiased and balanced with these stories.

I'm just a little sick of all this and am sick from all this. But one day I'll get over it and write about my family again.

I Hope Prop 8 Passes

Prop 8 and Discrimination

I like what he says about how marriage will become meaningless if we allow it to be extended to all different sorts of relationships and situations. My fear, of course, is that to the majority of Californians, marriage is already meaningless. But marriage is not meaningless to me and although societal forces have been trying to destroy the institution of marriage and family for years, I don't think that means we should all just give up and abandon ship.

Pray for Prop 8.

The Last Few Days

Tuesday's a big day for this country and also a big day for all California.

I'm voting yes on Prop 8. It's not about hate, as the other side likes to claim. Read this article for a little enlightenment.