Crimson Maple Trail

Friday, October 12, 2012

Cibola National Forest

4th of July Campground

Friday was the fall break holiday for the kids, so after lunch, we drove out to the Fourth of July Campground area and went for a "hike" (aka walk) through the beautiful fall colors.  We took a trail called the Crimson Maple Trail, and it was gorgeous.  I couldn't stop taking pictures.  So here's a WHOLE BUNCH!

When we got out of the car, Lily and Sydney ran to each other and hugged like they hadn't seen each other in YEARS!  I know I'm biased, but seriously, they are completely darling.

Nothing short of miraculous getting all those kids smiling in the same picture, 

AND it only took 2 shots to get this one!  

me and syd

holding  hands

the girlys

Lilly, wasn't super excited about getting torn away from her girl cousins to take some family shots . . .

just pretty

smiles

sillies

This time we got a smile out of Lily.  Maybe it's because there was laughy-taffy waiting for her . . .

Happy FALL!

sisters

Arthur and the boys

What a gorgeous, perfect day!  

When our hike was done, we all came back to our place and had a dinner of 

delicious Chipotle Chocolate Chili and sweet cornbread.  

Oh how I love fall!

And Gariety #6 is . . .

A Boy!
Due Feb. 18, 2013

We had our ultrasound yesterday and got to see this cute little guy through "the binocularth that can thee through your thkin" (Hayden's description of the ultrasound machine.) Daphne was hoping for another little sister, but it didn't take her long to be thrilled about a little boy.  She said, "Boys diapers are easier to change anyway."

And I'm pretty sure our little guy got my straight nose.  (All the other kids were lucky and got Arthur's cute nose.  ;)  I hope that's not embarrassing to him that I think his nose is cute.)  Although on a boy, maybe my nose will look very distinguished.

Here are our name ideas so far:

In preparation to teach his little brother all the ways of boys, Hayden suggested Ammo! (as in ammunition such as nerf darts and BBs etc . . .)
Daphne likes Peter
I suggested Mitt Ryan Gariety (a little political, but actually has a nice ring to it, I think.  ;)
Hayden suggested Kaidon, and Sean suggested John (as if I don't already get all the names mixed up!)  Sean also contributed Darth Vader.
I can't remember what Dallin suggested.  But he advised against the name John because he knows a really nice kid named John and doesn't want our little guy to mess the name up.  (Come on, Dallin, have a little faith!)
Bennett, Stone, and Arthur are also in the brainstorming mix.  My favorites right now are Bennett Arthur Gariety or Bennett Stone Gariety.
Arthur tends to use the "veto" power more frequently than the "contributing ideas" power but he has contributed a few this time around, and they are:  Grand Finale Gariety, or Caboose, or The End . . .  you get the picture.

It takes us forever to zero in on a name, so nobody will know until we bring this little guy home what we finally decide on.  In the meantime, feel free to add suggestions to our list.  We're excited to meet this new little Gariety in about 4 1/2 more months!

No Crying Over Spilt . . . Peaches

You know that saying it's no use crying over spilt milk?  Well, I'm pretty sure I've never cried over spilt milk.  But on Sunday when I was cleaning this up:

I cried.

(but first I took a picture because I knew I would probably need to vent about this in my blog.)

I cried as we cleaned up those broken bottles of peaches and applesauce because we were scraping days and days of my hard work off the garage floor into the trash can.  It was super lame.

We learned the hard way that the shelving we had for our bottled fruit was not strong enough, and finally after a month or two of over-stress, the shelving collapsed.  Poor Daphne was the first to discover it when she went to retrieve some brown sugar out of the garage.   When she opened the cupboard, all the bottles came crashing out.  I heard the crash from inside the house, followed by Daphne screaming.  Poor thing was scared to death, but otherwise unscathed.

After all was cleaned up and the undamaged bottles washed off and restocked on a stronger shelf, we figured we lost about 1/3 of what we preserved this summer.  Nice way to spend a relaxing Sunday afternoon, right?  And half an hour after we got this mess taken care of, I got to lead ward choir practice.

And I guess I should say that while I had been wishing with every particle of my soul that I could call in sick for Ward Choir, and Stake Choir, and motherhood and home-ownership, and food storage . . . ownership, that after Ward Choir practice, as Arthur and I made dinner together, I was in a significantly better mood.   I even felt excitement (instead of dread) about going to direct another choir practice that evening in preparation for Stake Conference.  As I was thinking about that later, I felt like maybe that was an example of the blessings that come as a result of the songs of the of the heart.  (D&C 25:12)

September Quotes

Pottytraining

Mom: Let's sit here and see if any peepee comes out.

Sydney:  It's lost.  The peepee is lost.

Dallin's deep thoughts on a Disney movie:  I think "The Little Mermaid" sends the worst message to little girls because it tells them they should just break all their dad's rules and do whatever they want even if they're not supposed to, and then if everything ends up wrong, they'll expect their dad to lay down everything that's important and give it all up for them.

Hayden:  Policemen sneak up and catch people to put in jail.

Sean:  They don't sneak, they just wait and watch for people going to0 fast and then they drive faster to catch them.

Me:  So Hayden, this week we get to find out if our baby is a boy or a girl.  Do you want to come to the doctor with me when we find out?

Hayden:  Of courth!  I alwayth go to find out what baby we are having!

(that made me laugh because he's only been to one other such appointment and I'm pretty sure he was too little to remember.)

In her bedtime prayers, Sydney tells Heavenly Father all of her most heartfelt wishes:

"Pincess watch it, Beauty Beast watch it, 
Ariel watch it, Punzel watch it, Cinderella watch it . . . " etc.

(in case you're confused about her meaning, she's telling Heavenly Father all of the movies she wants to watch the next day.)

Sean:  What?  It's raining in the morning?!?

It's true--that is kind of rare here.  We get afternoon rains frequently enough, but it's not often that it's raining when we wake up.  I personally LOVE it, but for Sean it's just a pain because it messes up recess.

A conversation about moving . . .

Dad:  If we moved away from Albuquerque, where would you guys want to move?

Sean:  Disneyland!

Daphne:  Hawaii!

Hayden:   Let'th move to Georgia, nextht door to the Reed'th!

Dallin:  I want to stay.

and so the debate continues . . .

Swinging at the park

Hayden:  Mom!  I want an under-dog!

Sydney:  I want under-kitty-cat!

On the way home from church

Mom: Great job on the primary program today, you guys!  It was awesome!

Hayden:  Doeth that mean we never have to go to church again?

Voice Recital

September 22, 2012
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
1100 Montano NW, ABQ

So this past Saturday, I did something mildly presumptuous in presenting a voice recital given by . . . . Myself.  

My friend Jaime and I have been talking about doing a voice recital for several years now, primarily to give us a reason to keep practicing.  Now, Dr. Robison up at BYU always said that you have to achieve a certain level of vocal beauty before you subject a room full of people to listening to you sing an entire voice recital, (hence the capstone Senior Recital of the Music Performance Major).  Since I was not a performance major, I felt slightly conflicted about doing this because who's to say if I ever actually achieved that level?  But luckily, I have kind friends who were willing to come listen regardless of whether my vocal beauty is of a high enough caliber.

Besides, I feel like mothers sometimes need a big project to work toward (that doesn't involve housecleaning or child-rearing.)    Some moms run marathons and some moms put on recitals.  (If you're Jaime, you do both.  She's heading up to St. George next week to run a marathon with her husband!)

Well, for one reason or another our recital was postponed and postponed and postponed again, until finally, the stars aligned and we were able to coordinate our two schedules and our two accompanists' schedules AND were able to reserve the Relief Society room at one of our church buildings.   So we did it!

We each sang 4 solos, and did 4 duets with each other, and each of us did a duet with our oldest daughter as well, so that was fun to involve those cute girls.

I've been going through the recording and figuring out what I feel comfortable sharing.  :)  (i.e. good enough to put online . . .)  I may have more later, but here is the last song we sang--It's a trio where we each are playing the same character ("Fiona" from Shrek, the Musical!) at a different point in her life.  Daphne was little-girl-Fiona, Jaime was teenager-Fiona, and I was adult-Fiona.

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We had a pretty fun time, and I was really grateful to all of our kind friends who somehow managed to squeeze one extra thing into their busy Saturday afternoons to support us.

THANK YOU for listening!!!

Soccer Players

September 8, 2012

AYSO-Albuquerque

Game 1, Sean and Hayden

All last year during Sean's soccer games, Hayden kept talking about when he'd be old enough to play soccer too.  So this year we signed him up, but when it came time, he didn't want to do it!  On the way to his first practice/game, I asked him if he was excited, and he said, "Um, not as much.  I'm kind-of thcared."  But once he got out there, he was a natural and just loves it!  

Hayden, #3 on his team, the FLAMING TIGERS

This is Sean's 3rd year playing soccer.  He loves going to practice and his team is working on some defense strategies that so far (3 games into the season) have kept their opposing teams either scoreless or down at just 1 or 2 goals.  Sean is particularly good at defense and really keeps that ball from getting on his side of the field.

Sean, #8, team RED MAMBAS