What I'm Thankful For

A little late, but...

I'm so thankful for my family.

Gingerbreading

Jaydn and I made our first gingerbread house during Thanksgiving. Not bad for beginners, eh?

Signs that it's Christmas

Well, when the tree goes up....

Funny Face

Jaydn took some pictures in the car on the way home from Emma's baptism. This one is classic.

Emma's Baptism and Connecticut Friends

Last week we went to our friends the Owens' daughter Emma's baptism in Rigby. Lo and behold, our good friends Deanna Lia and her daughter Kayla Paugas from Connecticut came! They are (respectively) Jennifer Owen's mother and younger sister. This was pretty cool for me, because I had the honor of baptizing Kayla when she turned eight in Connecticut!

Jaydn's Baptism

Jaydn was baptized and confirmed on Saturday, November 15, 2008, along with Angela's fiance and Jaydn's future uncle, Jey. Here are some pictures from the event.

It was held in one of the multi-purpose rooms in the church, and there was literally no room for anyone--standing room only. There were a lot of people there!

It was a wonderful, very spiritual day.

Jaydn's Eighth

Last week we celebrated Jaydn's birthday with his friends. Here are the pictures:

You see what my job was? Being a target for all the kids.

Then Jessi and I competed on the "Spider Stomper." I won, of course.

Jessi's video is sideways, oops.

Pumpkin Carving

Here are some pictures from our pumpkin carving extravaganza at my parents' house:

We are ARTISTS!

Halloween Pics

Just a few, to go along with the previous post:

Halloween Themes

1. Cereal Killer (my costume - mini-cereal boxes with plastic knives cut through them, taped all over my clothes);

2. Darth Vader (Jaydn; well, Darth Vader with a big orange Jack-o-Lantern to put his candy in);

3. Hot chick (Jessi; no costume, just her normal self);

4. Obi Wan Kenobi (Jaydn's friend and sidekick trick-or-treater);

5. About 50 cars (the size of our hugely ridiculous ward trunk-or-treat);

6. A ghost (our car's very original costume);

7. Darth and Obi walkin' the beats (get this - Obi Wan trains Darth, Darth gets mad, rebels against Obi Wan, Obi Wan cuts off Darth's legs and arms and leaves him for dead, Darth gets really mad, puts on a ghetto new outfit, Obi Wan fights Darth again as an old dude, Darth KILLS Obi Wan, Obi Wan directs Darth's overthrow from the grave, and then DARTH AND OBI WAN GO TRICK OR TREATING TOGETHER!!! What is this world coming to?);

8. Fistfuls (our ridiculous neighbors' method of handing out candy to Jaydn);

9. "Dad, I've only had nine." (response when I tell Jaydn not to eat too much candy);

10. Tomorrow (Jaydn's birthday party).

Life is so hard as a kid!

Clavinova Festival

Jaydn did a really good job at the Clavinova Festival in Iona. Check it out:

A Family Portrait Sampler

We took some family pictures yesterday around downtown Idaho Falls. Here's a sampling:

So happy to be together forever.

What a riot

Jaydn and I spent an afternoon at the Riot Zone playing miniature golf and playing on the blow-up toys. I only beat Jaydn at mini golf by 5 points, ugh.

I've got a good boy.

More Soccer Pics

Jaydn loooooves soccer! He won his last game of the season today. I asked him if he wanted to play on more American sports teams, like basketball, baseball, or football. "No, just soccer. I love soccer!" He's a soccer boy.

What a Week

I spent most of last week in beautiful Sun Valley, where there was no sun, only SNOW! I went for the Idaho Bar Annual Conference, which was spectacular, but there was no Jessi and Jaydn for three days.

Then I hopped in the car and drove with my family to Provo (again) for cousin Riley's baptism and cousin Daniel's baby blessing. I did get to go to the BYU vs. New Mexico football game with Jaydn, who got bored with the weird American football rules and wanted to go home after halftime. He'd rather watch soccer anyday.

Then, I experienced for the umpteenth time the famous Grigg car antics for the drive home.

And while Monday is supposed to be a holiday, here I am, going to work.

What a week.

Aspen Grove

Jessi and I took a few days off from work and went to a J. Reuben Clark Law Society conference at Aspen Grove in Provo Canyon.

First we stopped at Mark and Andrea's house and had a "Samoan game night" with friends we made in Samoa.

The first day of the conference was at the BYU Law School. The next day was held in beautiful Aspen Grove.

This was the view from our cabin.

And a close up of the steep mountain cliffs.

Afterward we visited an old friend of mine, Loren Smemoe and his family. We also visited Jessi's brother in Orem, watched the BYU football game against puny USU, and visited our friends the Merediths in Brigham City before returning home by 2:00 am.

I am so tired!