guess what! i think i figured out the picture problem.
here are a few to enjoy.

My family at Thanksgiving dinner at Brigette's house -

Chase with his birthday cake this last Sunday. He turned 8.


My parent's house at Christmas-time.

:)

i love it!

my roommate Jenny and I -

at our Wass-Off Party
David, Lori, me, and Lettie

soapboxes -

well, i learned my lesson today.
don't forward an e-mail on to people unless you know how they are going to react. in my case - i didn't know that i was going to offend so many people with an e-mail that i sent to them.
so - i figure i can put whatever i want on my blog - and people can hate me here, too.
:)

so there.
happy tuesday.
don't let the holidays make you testy.

the Wass-off

i gotta tell you - i think i am as close to a hang over as I'll ever be.
NO - I DID NOT DRINK ALCOHOL LAST NIGHT. just a lot of wassail and ate a lot of good food. and today - i am paying the price. i feel like I've been hit by a truck and left in a dirty ditch by the side of the road.
now, for those of you who couldn't come to the Wass-off last night, i pity you. (unless of course you live to far away, have children, or were drinking wassail yourself). i must admit - my roommates and i can throw a mean party. we re-arranged the furniture to accommodate a more relaxing and welcoming environment, and to put the food closer to the door to entice people in. Of course the luminaries that we put on our sidewalk that led up to our apartment door probably looked like a landing strip and made people want to come in for a warm cup of goodness.
we had 3 different kinds of wassail for everyone's drinking enjoyment - and each was a different enough from the others that i think everyone could find one they liked.
Our last guests left around midnight and the coolest thing is that we all went to bed and left the house a mess. so tonight after work I'll be doing dishes if anyone wants to stop by. speaking of - here's a a special shout-out to my AWESOME bro-in-law David. he did the dishes and saved my poor hands from a trip to Hades.
so, there you have it. our 1st annual Wass-off was a success.
nice.

My adoring fans -
i want to apologize for the fact that i can't post any pictures - STILL - on my blog.
i know it is boring and i know you wish you could see the fantastic pics i have, but alas, i cannot post them.
so....my blog is boring.
sorry.

hot wendy

not so hot wendy

are you ready to.....Festival?!?!?

last night was our last Festival committee meeting before Festival starts. it was a mad dash to get our projects done in time for Festival week - which starts in exactly 11 days. are you excited? i'm nervous. but i have such a great committee and they all deserve to be mentioned here -

Mamma D (my mom)
Brigette
Lori P.
Lori L.
Melissa
Tia
Keri
Nickie
Karmon
Jessie
Brooke
Abbie
Diane
Krista
and Lettie

so there is my shout-out for my festival gals!! hip, hip, HOORAY!
we ate pie and laughed and talked and were busy little bees.

and here's another plug - if you want to buy tickets to go to Festival - i'm your hook-up. Festival goes November 28 - December 1 at the South Towne Expo Center.

go festivus!!!

go cougars!

Last night isaac and I went to the BYU vs. TCU football game. Don't worry - it took us over 2 hours to get there. We passed some of the time by eating dinner in the car (heather's super-yummy pasta salad). We parked really far away - not realizing how far away we were and had a nice brisk fall walk to the stadium. Isaac's friend Deppe had extra tickets so he and his wife were there, too. Brigette and Justin have season tickets so i got to see them and my mom and dad and Carter at the game, too.

After the game we walked back to the car talking about how funny life is and how naive and innocent we were when we were in college, not really knowing what life was going to be like. I mentioned that life was so fun in college because it seemed to have been one party or event after another, not really thinking ahead too much about where my life would go. He mentioned that he always felt like he was overly-responsible and stuff in college. I think living at home and going to college is a lot different than when you move away and are away from your parent's supervision. It is funny how my life has gone - but in the end, it has gone just the way it should have. And I like that. I just wish I could be 22 and dumb again. :)

Oh - I almost forgot! I got rear-ended after the game in the pretty after-the-game-BYU/Provo-traffic. Some chick hit me and when we got out of the car to look at it she said - Sorry, I spaced it. Uh....you spaced driving? How exactly does that work? Thank goodness there wasn't any damage done.

Today I am grateful I don't live in Provo.

it's about time!

Finally! I can post pics again. And just in time for the Tamales 10 year reunion photos. 10 years ago I met some of the most amazing women in my life. And it has been one of my greatest blessings to still call them my friends. We try to get together at least every six months or so, but we decided to get away for a weekend and spend some serious time chatting and laughing. And....we did. Four of us drove up to stay the night at Heather's house in Providence. We ate a lot of good food, talked A LOT and laughed A LOT. We even stayed up pretty late - for women our age. :)
On saturday we went up to the USU campus and walked around, stopping in for a shopping spree in the bookstore, and talking about some of our memories. Ahhh....the good times of our former years.......too many memories to mention.










- From left to right -
Bottom row: me, Emily, Kelsey (and baby #3)
Top row: Heather, Anna, Heather

We all kept saying how happy we are that after all of this time, and the different directions our lives have gone, we are still such good friends. It is so nice to have so many solid friendships and so many good memories.

It'll be great to see what happens in the next 10 years.

After all....according to this picture....I am here. So where will I be then? What an adventure!

I AM APOLOGIZING NOW - I CANNOT POST ANY PICTURES. I'VE BEEN TRYING FOR A WEEK NOW, AND IT WON'T LET ME ADD ANY PICS. sorry.


So appartently October is the month to have a birthday.
here is a list of people I know who have birthdays in October:

Krista Kent
Autumn Labarca
Gena Gough
Grandma Carter
Brigette Comish
Ryan Hoskins
Grandpa Nielson
Rebecca Stahl
Jordan Fuller
Wyatt Rockwood - ?
Emily Sego
Katie Stahl
Becca Stewart
Lettie Parker

So - October has been birthday celebration month.

oh the things kids say these days....

on friday night i went to my sister's house and babysat her 4 boys so her husband, Justin, could surprise her for her birthday (which is today - happy 33rd sister!) and take her away for the night.

needless to say they were a handful and we had our fun. i think i got up at least 7 times during the night to help Kye (the youngest) who kept crying. the next day Justin told me "oh, we should have told you about that - you just let him cry himself back to sleep." oh, well, goodbye good night's rest.

on saturday we hopped in the car to take Carter to his football game. on the way home Keyan asked (from the backseat of the suburban) "Wendy, why don't you have any kids?" well, shoot. how do i explain that one to him? so i told him that i didn't have kids cause i wasn't married. that seemed to satisfy him. gotta love that question.

random posting of pics from the infamous sturgis trip

so...I never finished my blog from our trip to Sturgis in July.

sorry.

I promise I will randomly post pics from the trip. Maybe someday my faithful blog visitors will see all they want to see of my pics from the trip.

the one above was a pic taken at the top of somewhere...the name is fleeing my brain right now.....it was in Nebraska on the Oregon Trail. Scotts Bluff? sounds good. and yes, that is called motorcycle-helmet-head-hair. not flattering at all. oh well. can't deny my natural beauty.

the view from the top of the bluff was beautiful. Some of my favorite pics from the trip were taken from here.

the weekend

well, as usual, the weekend was pretty busy. i went to Carter's football game against Bountiful on saturday morning. They won the game and Carter got to play offense for the first time. he did a great job.

After that, Keyan's soccer game got rained out. it was super cold that day, but thank goodness didn't rain on us at Carter's game.

the girls spent our "girls' night out" (while the men went to the Priesthood meeting) at Brigette's house saturday night and made sugar cookies with the kids. it is truly amazing what their little stomachs can handle without puking anything up. also on saturday night my car died and is probably going to have to have the alternator replaced. i love my car - but hate the cost of upkeep sometimes.
And of course it was conference weekend, full of all sorts of inspirational information. i LOVE conference weekend and can't wait to get the Ensign in a few weeks to read in detail what we were taught.

and now we're back to monday.

Saturdays = sports

On saturday I went to Keyan's soccer game and Carter's football game. It was so much fun to see them play sports and to get to play with the other kids during the games. The weather was perfect for fall - nice and crisp and a few rain drops even fell.

Keyan in his soccer uniform.
He played really well - running the whole time he was on the field.
He even scored a few goals - way to go Kiwi!

Kaden found the treat bag in my car and helped himself to some goldfish crackers - yep, that's what is on his tongue, chewed up goldfish.

Kye still doesn't like me too much, but we're working on it. He sure is cute. I wonder which sport he'll choose when he gets old enough to play.

Troy's Birthday -

Guess how old my brother Troy is and you win a prize!

Mom and Troy

not really - i won't tell you how old he is. but he is old enough to
have a pirate cake for his birthday.

We had our family birthday party dinner for him on sunday at Lori and David's house.

man-o-man do we have fun as a family, or what? the kids got this crazy idea to get wrapped up in a blanket and then get swung around in it. they each took their turns and the adults watched and laughed. Carter was so heavy that he kept hitting the ground.

Mom, Dad, and Zane.

My dad's new job....

My dad is now a line worker at Cafe Rio. If you need a good pork salad - he's your man.

o.k. not really.

we went to lunch there yesterday and asked the guy if he could work for him so he could take a break. so the guy let him back. well, lori and i had a good laugh at watching the whole process.

Smoooth old guy...

Saturday night my friends Ann, Diane, and Stephanie, and I went to Deer Valley to see Tony Bennett. It was a Beautiful night - perfect for sitting under the stars and listening to some good 'ol music.

Before you laugh at me, I just want to say how smooth that old guy is, even at 110 years old. I would take him in a heartbeat if he sang those love songs to me each night. Man! He knows how to impress the ladies.

the BIG day Volume II

We're going back a little farther this time.

Lori and Dave on the day Lori went to the temple to receive her endowment.

The bride having a facial. (Notice cute Kye looking up at his aunt trying to
figure out what she's doing)

The beautiful temple.


The Grandkids (from left to right)
Kaden, Kye, Chase, Dianne, Carter, and Keyan

The bride and groom

My brothers, Zane and Troy

Dave's family:

Lettie, Dave the Dad, the best man, Dave, and Mom

Lettie, Lori, me, and Brigette. Dontcha just love our matchey-smatchey jewelry?

My siblings:

Troy, Brigette, Dave & Lori, Me, and Zane

the BIG day!!

it was a great day with hardly any stress - it was just fun to be with the fam and watch lori and dave be happy.

The wedding dinner -

Lettie (Dave's sister) and I - how funny that we look alike!

Comting out of the temple.

What a babe. good thing someone was taking pics of me, too. i looked hot.

The bride and groom.

Cute Lettie had Marilyn moment.


At the reception center.

The bride and bridesmaids, from left, Dianne, Brigette, Lori, Wendy, Lettie.

The mother of the groom, the bride, and the mother of the bride.

Whoops - this one snuck in! Lori in 1987. :)


Isaac and I.

Brigette and Kye.

The cake. (duh)

Cutting the cake. They were nice and fed each other very nicely. oh wait - they were both threatened by their mothers to be nice.