The Catch-Up Post

Wes and I enjoyed the weekend getaway to St. George in late February.  It was warm, we got some sun and golfing in, we stayed in a great house that Kevin rented for the week and saw magnificent homes in the annual "Showcase of Homes."

Alex loved to tour houses with the grownups!  When she saw a particular design or aspect she approved of, she would yell "Oh, that's nice!"  A realtor in the making.

I tried to warn the guys not to underestimate my golfing (mostly putting) prowess because of my gender.  They didn't listen.  On the last hole during our Best Ball Showdown, my team was up 6 points and there was no chance of a comeback by the others.  To make things interesting, the other team decided that the last hole was worth a ton so that whoever won that single hole won the game.  It looked like we had it in the bag, but it came down to the put.  By that time, it was bordering on pitch dark outside and we were all freezing.  Mike went first and missed what I thought was the hole by less than an inch.  I went next and aimed for the spot Mike missed, only to find out that it was a patch of dirt.  I would've made it, though!  The guys decided that it was an honest mistake and let me have another shot.  This time, I aimed at the real hole which was AT LEAST 20 feet away and on an incline.  There was no way a human could make it.  Guess who won the game?  That's right.  And guess what chick is also winning her March Madness Bracket despite going up against about a dozen College BBall fanatics?  Yeah.  Never underestimate the power of pure genius.

The St. George Showcase of Homes had some AMAZING designs.  This particular house reminds me of the one where they filmed The Bachelor.

Wes and I were able to take a little weekend trip to visit the Travis Charles family in St. Louis, MO in early February.  Milli celebrated her birthday with some familiar faces and we got Avery all to ourselves much of the time.  Thanks guys, for being awesome hosts!

There was some serious bonding going on here.  They had the most fascinating conversation.

Travis and Milli wouldn't let us take Avery home with us.  I have no idea why.

We love these people.

Travis and Milli's neighbors threw us a Welcome BBQ the last night we were there.  Just kidding, it felt like summer, so everyone decided to take advantage of the weather.  There are a MILLION kids in their complex.  It's like a mini-Provo!  The Mormons have returned to Missouri!

Liberty Jail was one of the coolest stops in Independence.  The actual jail is partially reconstructed inside this building and staged.  The sister missionary/tour guide sang "Be Still, My Soul" a'cappella for our group after they played a recording of the history of the jail and Joseph Smith's experiences there.  

Happy little girl.  She was so well behaved on our little getaways!

Milli took us to see the RLDS (now called the Community of Christ) and LDS sites in Independence.  The RLDS temple is behind us and often referred to as the "Ice Cream Cone."  I mean, it did kind of look like one.  It was all very...strange.

Uncle Wes took Avery outside for some fresh 65 degree air.

Wes and I got to sing in this gorgeous cathedral with the Utah Chamber Chorale.  Sometimes I wish I could be Catholic just to get to go to church in places like this and sing cool chants in Latin.  

Top of the world with our buddy, Miss Anne Schleiffarth.

Thanks for the tickets and pointers, Dad!

I'm trying to convince Wes to invest in a less...imposing ski jacket.  Perhaps this pic will convince him ;-)

Oh, how spoiled we are living in Park City.  Free skiing at Deer Valley.  Not bad.

I like how Wes couldn't peel his eyes away from the game for 1 second.  Typical!  He's still cute.

White-out in Provo...(The Cougars lost that game despite the impressive show of support.)

The Rill Dill.  Beautiful little family.

Do we pull off the parent look?  Probably not yet, since I don't quite have the totally sleep-deprived thing going.

Avery got all the attention that night, and the other munchkins didn't mind much because they were so happy they have someone else to play with!

Proud Daddy!  Avery's blessing was beautiful and Wes and I couldn't be happier for her wonderful parents.

Princess Alex is going to have to fight the boys off by the dozens.

Introducing Shane Charles.  Up close and personal.  (I think he wanted to steal my chair.)

The Brothers Charles at Avery's Baby Blessing

Kaleb is practically an adult.  I can't keep up with him!

That kid knows how to work an iPhone.  I'm not sure what to think of that other than he's a Mac and he's one and a half.

At the Cheesecake Factory, Wes decided that Meal #1 just didn't quite do the trick.

A Christmas Story

Although I am now in my mid-20's and doing a lot of the pre-Christmas prep that my parents always did behind the scenes, Christmas has not lost one bit of its magic for me. I still have trouble sleeping Christmas Eve, wake up far too early for a vacation day and I still anxiously anticipate seeing what Santa has brought. I love the smells of cinnamon, molasses cookies, and peppermint that fill my parent's house and I have tried to recreate that heavenly atmosphere in my own home. (Note: Always have a fresh batch of cookies prepared.) I must mention that having a REAL Christmas tree is part of the magic in my opinion, so in that regard my parents have totally sold out. Although I feel I will never match the extent to which my mom goes "all-out" for holidays in decorating the house, perhaps I can infuse some of her flavor into mine. Someday, I want my children to cherish similar memories to the ones I have acquired over decades of magical Christmases.

It is miraculous that after 17 years of being separated by school and jobs, my entire immediate family is now within a 20 miles radius. I've been so lucky to watch my nephews (and neice) grow over the past few years! They're pretty neat people.

I wish I could remember what it was like to be unabashedly fascinated with something as trivial as a nutcracker. Isaac frequently tries to force everyone who is able to lift him to Steinbach eye-level so he can study every detail of each doll. These days, I only get that level of fascination watching The Bachelor.

"Rut der! Rut der!" (Pointing at the nutcrackers, of course.)

I'm sorry to my friends who have babies, but this kid takes the cake.

Sometimes, we pretend he's already ours. He calls me "AunTIE!", picks up after himself, and will fill in the words of his "Isaac, Isaac" song.

Half of the time I see Kaleb, he's partially clothed and waking up from a nap. This is a good thing, because where else would he find all of the energy to bounce off the walls? I love this boy!

Five out of the eight adults present at the Rawson Christmas have iphones (myself excluded.) The picture above was a common scene Christmas day as various iphone-users exchanged game app ideas, checked the weather in Ouagadougou and played pranks using a certain flatulence-inspired app (Wes has yet to get over this one).

This is another common scene on major holidays. Comatose.

The Brothers Charles on Christmas Day. We stopped by Kevin's house to make sure we saw the Travis Charles family for a few minutes before the Rawson shindig.

Jesse and I played "jail" with his new handcuffs. He's our buddy. We took Kaleb and Jess to "Walking with the Dinosaurs" in January for their birthdays and had such a great time hanging out with them! Wes and I highly recommend the show to kids and adults alike. It was like being IN Jurassic Park.

Uncle Wes loves Avery (and vice versa.) This is one of the reasons I'm head over heals in love with him...look how sweet he is with this baby girl! Melts my heart.

It truly was a winter wonderland in Park City on Christmas morning. Wes had to shovel the driveway just so we could get out.

This is my new favorite ornament. Lovebirds! The first official Christmas as husband and wife was absolutely wonderful.

On the Charles side, we are assigned one adult in the family for whom to shop. I LOVE this set-up. It completely takes the pressure off of finding that perfect something for an endless list of people. It turned out that Kevin was assigned me and Kimberly got Wes (was this planned?). During the gift exchange, some people got books, others cleats, and others framed picutres. Kevin sets a CHAIR in front of me. "Wow, Kevin...what a beautiful chair! I know the perfect place for it..." Next thing I know he's bringing out chair #2. After Kimberly and Mama Kath brought out chairs 3-8...Wes and I knew something was brewing. The guys left the party for awhile and then offered to help us move our new chairs into our house. Kevin said, "Something is missing. Let's go outside and see if we can find anything to go with these chairs." Sure enough, they start bringing in the table piece by piece. Wes and I were SHOCKED. What did we do to deserve this? Surely, getting married doesn't entitle you to beautiful home furniture. We thought we were perfectly happy with our old 4-seater with a giant crack down the middle. We can be sure that this table will be well-used. Thank you everyone for a lifetime of luxurious meals! And thank you CasaBella for great inventory.

Wes brought the gift of music into our home by surprising me with the news that a piano would be on our Christmas list this year. I was thinking this would either be a few years down the line OR that we would somehow inherit an old, out-of-tune upright. We ended up investing in a beautiful Yamaha Studio and met our future Utah Chamber Chorale director in the process. (Wes and I auditioned and both made it!) I envision tiny fingers plunking out first chords as I teach my children something I have loved since I was little. I envision jam sessions with friends playing/singing Coldplay songs at the top of our lungs. And I envision duets. Many, many duets. Our piano will never get rusty and neglected. It'll be a central part of our family.

Reason #547 why I love Wes: He thinks I look my BEST in the morning when I am convinced I look my worst. I can't imagine he was talking about this morning.

I love my Wes, so I bought him a Blu-ray player.

Santa brought us fun stocking-stuffers! Having just the two of us there on our first Christmas morning was perfect and it's a memory I'll treasure forever.

Not a creature was stirring...

Yes, we match. No, this was not planned.

Baby Avery's first Christmas! Lots of firsts this year. It was so good to see Trav, Milli and the newest addition to the family.

Prior to opening presents, Papa John explained the real meaning of Christmas to the munchkins and then showed them a video of the Nativity. I'm sure they were thinking about the baby Jesus the whole time they were tearing open their presents and arguing over toys...It's good to start 'em young.

The Spanish Branch Fiesta Navidad! We love partying with the latinos. They know how to have a good time.

Sometimes the sky is on fire in Parley's Canyon and I am always so glad I have my camera with me as I'm driving through. Seriously beautiful. (I am my father's daughter.)

First Christmas 2008

First Christmas Tree Decorating as a married couple!  Full of Christmas music, lights that stayed lit if one bulb went out, a tree stand designed by idiots and one stubborn, crooked tree.  I LOVE Christmas.

Christmas Card 2009, unless we can find one where Wes is not trying to strangle me.

It was right after this moment that we realized we forgot to put the tree in the bucket of water. 

Wes was shocked that I could reach all the way to the top to put the star on!

Wes had the honors of putting our very first official ornament on the tree marking the year of our marriage. Yay!

Our stubborn tree was dead set on leaning forward, so Mr. Fix-It spent a couple of hours trying to keep the tree straight by nailing fishing line to the wall and attaching it to the trunk.  If you're not careful and bump the tree, a nail may come flying out of the wall into your eyeball.