Someone's A Sexy Lawyer

 Did you guess this guy? Yep! He's finally all done! The final hoop to jump through to being an official lawyer was the Utah State Bar swearing in ceremony. May 15th we got a sitter (Thanks again, Shauna!) and dressed like grown-ups to attend the admission's ceremony at Abravanel Hall.

  Together, I am so proud of my man!

 Along with both our parents, my brother Adam and his sister Monica both attended as well. Here is Clayton and his sister in front of the Chihuly sculpture.

Us again.

 The proud parents.

 Convening of the Court.

 

Administration of the Oath. He's the dot in the back row... yeah, you can't see him.

 

 And the rest of the proud group. We went to lunch afterwards at Chunga's in Salt Lake and had an awesome spread of dang good Mexican food. Always worth a stop.

 Now we are still looking for a job while debating whether go out on his own. He got his LLC (business license essentially) and we are just at the jumping off point, so we will keep you all posted as to where we end up!

November 2012

November! Nothing much happened, but here are some shots of the nothingness. Cute Win pushed a chair up to the sink to help with the dishes. I leave the room for a minute and come back to this.

  

 You really do get a better clean if you use your knees.

 Trying on his summer gear, just in time for snow.

 And demanding to see the camera before the picture is taken. I love that you can see the color of his eyes in this shot. He has the most adorable olive green eyes.

 After a Sunday dinner, Rapunzel is asking Kirsten's Jessie about his tattoos. "How did you DO that?!" She kept asking him, fascinated. He does have an impressive sleeve.

 He and Kirsten's little Rozzie watching Baby Einsteins on a tablet with Jenni, Winston and Tom. Kids are so fun.

I love his little smile, and I love how he looks like a giant next to her tiny nugget of a self.

 Rapunzel decided to be Snow White on another day. These are her "creepy eyes". If you ask her for creepy eyes you will get a different eye trick every time. Not sure she knows what creepy means.

 Eleanor, baby Rozzie and Win in their mess of a room. Can you spot them all?

 Winston, helping Grandpa Tom with the gutters. We learned that Winston LOVES ladders! Yay for us!

 And climbing in general.

 Taking selfies. (Oh man, I really hate that word)

 Winston at "his desk". He sits at the window on top of the couch with his legs tucked in between the couch and the wall. He used to do it all of the time, now only occasionally.

 

Seriously, he used to do this all of the time. 

 We went up north for Grandma Ethel Mae Firth's birthday party. Here are some of the great-grandchildren who were able to attend. I love the Firth cousins, they are always so much fun.

 And the grandchildren who were there. Between Lex and Wes joking, they couldn't keep it together long enough for a decent shot.

Much better.

 Ethel Mae with her kids. From left, Carol* and Jess, Kathy and Rex*, Ethel Mae, Wayne* and Deb and Wayne*, Rebecca and Max* and Wendi* and John. 

(*Denotes which ones are her kids and not the spouse.)

Eleanor enjoying her cousins and second cousins. (Is that what they are? First cousins once removed? Who decides this stuff? Where is the website?)

 

Well, I am off to google genealogy terminology, and hopefully get this blog into the year 2013, since it's almost June. 

Firth Reunion 2012

 Firth Family Reunion! Clayton was too busy studying to make it this year so I heroically (kidding) took the kids up by myself. Well, all the accolades belong to Rex and Kathy for letting us cram in the back of their truck and letting Winston kick their seats the entire way. We were also missing Clint and Alison and their family this year. We couldn't make it last year as we stayed in Michigan and had a baby. Anyhow, I was excited to go as we look forward to it each year.

There were a few minor hitches, the power and water were turned off at first due to lots of fires in the surrounding canyons, but they got it turned on by the second day and all was well. Winston was in heaven with all the room to roam and I was in heaven not having to worry about streets or cars and having so many hands to help with him. We had a lot of fun.

Eleanor and the kids found an inchworm. Have you ever actually seen one up close? They really do inch along, just like Slimey from Sesame Street. So cute, kind of. Still a worm.

 And other worms she insisted were also inchworms. Uhhh..

 Winston reacting to something awesome.

 And Eleanor hugging her long lost friends. All the older girl cousins (technically Clayton's cousin's kids.) are so sweet to Eleanor, letting her harass them the entire time. This is Bailey and Kinsley, I think? All told, there is a Hattie, Bailey, Kinsley, Hailey Jo, Paige and a few others. I never get them right.

 Winston loving Wendi's dog.

 Lucas was bet by Lex to eat a beetle for $10 whole, I think they talked it down to $5 to take off the legs and head. It was still bigger than a Rolo and completely disgusting. He chewed it up like a champ. His first comment? "Hmm, spicy." Shudder shudder shudder.

 See that little dot to the right of the green and black tent? Yeah, that's Winston, just crawling around the lawn. He's so tiny!

 Attempting to get a family shot. HARD.

 There we go.

 Zannah and Hayden? (Why can't I get them all straight? If they blogged, I'd have an easier time. Hint hint.) Working on the Sharpie tie-dye project.

 For the talent show the gals all sang Jingle Bells. I'll give you one guess as to who chose the song. (Remember, this is the middle of the summer.)

 And then we had a hard time getting Eleanor and Zannah off the "stage". Here they are dancing back-up for Rachel's songs.

 P.S. Rachel playing is always a highlight for me. She plays all my favorite songs.

 Grandma Kathy and Rachel's little bundle, Audrey. Who has the prettiest blue eyes ever. She is just a month younger than Winston.

 Aunt Val holding my elf.

 Eleanor begged Uncle John for a horse ride. He said he would after lunch (which was an hour or so off) and she hounded him the entire time. Bless his heart, he took her and every kid there for a little ride.

 Including Win. I just wanted a photo, but he took him around too. Winston loved it.

 

 And after everyone was all done, he took Eleanor for a second ride. What a sweetheart! And hello, doesn't John look like such a total cowboy? P.S. It was freaking hot outside, so this was truly a service.

 

 E mugging for the camera.

 And a quick shot with Grandma Ethel Mae before we headed back home. I couldn't have done it without the help of Kathy, Rex, Monica and Val- so a big thanks to all of them! We love all the Firths!

Clayton's Parents Come to Michigan!

Clayton's parents came to visit us in Michigan in mid-November for a few days. We had a wonderful time enjoying the warm autumn weather and discovering a few new places. On the first day everyone went to Patriarch park to play. Well, I stay home to enjoy morning sickness.

Rex & Kathy

Swing time. It's a miracle every time we manage to get her off the swings. Man she loves them.

Grandma fixing E's hair. She never holds that still for me.

Bronners! We traveled to Frankenmuth one day to check out the world's largest Christmas store. And they aren't kidding, it's enormous! And I think we all hated it. It was like WalMart on Black Friday on crack. You would think that 7 acres of buildings wouldn't get so crowded, but wow. Ok, so a lot of our friends love it, so I am guessing that WHEN you go makes a big difference. Mid-November probably isn't recommended. Kathy bought us a sweet nativity souvenir and one for them as well. I think anyone living in Michigan has to go at least once.

However, we loved downtown Frankenmuth! It is so pretty and charming, all done in a Bavarian style. We stopped along a bridge across the Cass river to take some pictures.

Eleanor was super giggly for grandma & grandpa.

Giggly and wiggly. Why do kids get crazy-wiggly in dangerous areas?

We stopped for lunch at a crepes place that was amazing. After Frankenmuth we headed to Uncle John's Cider mill for donuts and cider. But the mill part is closed after October 31st so we just bought some cider to take home and enjoy.

Here Eleanor is getting kisses from grandma.

We also introduced them to our favorite Pho place and played a lot of cards. It was a really nice visit and it was fun for Eleanor to get to know the Firth grandparents a lot better.