Long time, no post!

Well, I am embarrassed at how long it's been since I posted anything. Shoot, I didn't even blog about the election, which is horrible for a lifelong conservative to admit. (Needless to say, not happy about the results!) I am going to try to be better, I really do promise!

So the big news in our family is that Sarah is going on a MISSION! She's been called to serve in the Colorado Denver South Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She will serve for a period of 18 months. We are so proud of her and so excited for her and so nervous about not being able to talk to her (even if it's just texting) on a daily basis. Sarah had spent the last eight months at BYU-Provo for her freshman year of college. She did awesome, really enjoyed it, and made friends that will (hopefully) last a lifetime. Obviously she would be going back this fall except for the announcement about lowering the mission ages. Sarah felt very strongly that she should serve a mission. If you want to read more about her decision process, head on over to HER blog, http://sistersarahnoakes.blogspot.com/. I'll be maintaining that blog for her while she's away. (Sniff.)

We had some family pictures taken on Sunday. Here are a couple of my personal favorites. (Yes, we are a geeky family, wearing our matching Doctor Who tee shirts and all. It's just how we roll around here.)

L-R Sarah, Paula (me), Alan, Spencer

 

It's a GIRL! Don't touch me!

The hubs and me. Old gray-haired farts that we are, heh.

So anyway, that's a brief update. I promise to post more later!

Memory Lane

This is my little trip down memory lane. Thirteen years ago this month, Alan was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Twelve years ago this month, we were sealed as a family in the Seattle Temple. Here are some pictures from that night.

Here is a family shot at home before the baptism. Yes, I was pregnant with Spencer at the time ...
Here's a picture of Alan and I at the post-baptism dinner. We went to Cedars Pier One, I believe. Alan would remember but I will check that detail later.


Here is Sarah with my mom and dad at the dinner. My dad died not quite four years later, so this picture is special to me.


I will post more later ... after I get them scanned into the computer. These are all from "back in the day" when we used film in cameras!

Explanation of Wordless Wednesday

Yes, that is Alan, wearing a really trashed shirt after working on the Taurus and getting the starter changed out. Yay! I really really appreciate that he knew how to do it and we didn't have to fork over the money right now for a mechanic! He did change his shirt before eating dinner on his birthday.

The second picture is of one of my set of Rachael Ray pans. I LOVE THESE PANS! They are SO easy to use, they heat SO evenly and well, and best of all -- NOTHING STICKS to them! I made sesame chicken with a teriyaki and honey sauce, and you can see nothing stuck to the pan. Love these, love 'em, love 'em! And love that Alan told me they were at Costco and to buy them for myself for Mother's Day!

Wordless Wednesday (late!)