Seasons Change

And now it is time to move from Fall into the Christmas Season... I have to say that fall is my favorite season of the year. I love the weather, and the beauty as the leaves change colors. I love pumpkins and fall decorations... I love the whole idea of celebrating Thanksgiving and reflecting on all that we have to be grateful for...

Here is a book that I put together with pictures at the time of Ashas birth and her first photo shoot a few days later... It was a Christmas present made for Erica and Rajiv:

Click here to view this photo book larger

Riding the Polar Express

When Erica's family was here before Thanksgiving, we went up to Heber to ride the Polar Express. The kids wore their pajamas and robes, just like in the book/movie.
Here is a picture taken before getting on the train:

And here is a picture that Erica snapped on the way home in the car, later that evening...
It was a lot of fun, but apparently very exhausting too!


I made a memory book with pictures from the occasion, so the kids would have something to help them remember the fun experience. It is an 8" book that I had printed at shutterfly. There is a link below, if you would like to see the book. Click below it to see it larger.

All aboard...The Polar Express

Click here to view this photo book larger

THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION

My blog has been neglected for some time now : ( In fact, I had to think real hard for a minute about what my password was to even get in, LOL! Well, I'm going to go back and catch up a bit, starting with Thanksgiving... Our family gathering was a little smaller this year, with Sara on her mission, and both Brittany and Matthew just married (and spending this year with the new families). Becky was in Mississippi at Tech School, so Justin did not make the drive down. The Kumar's did come out to Utah and spent Thanksgiving with Rajiv's family. We spent time together before Thanksgiving, and I will have some pictures to share later from that. You might notice that there is not a single picture of me, so no proof that I was even there at Thanksgiving this year! Note to self: pass my camera off to someone else now and then, so I am in a picture or two ; )

Justin and the Lotoja

Wow. I get to do a {grown-up} scrapbook page for my son. That's a rare occasion, and it was a lot of fun. I'm just in awe of him riding in this race. You can read the details about in on the page. Remember you can click on it to make it larger for reading.
TFL.

Meet my Grandmother...

Meet my grandmother Myrtle Irene Barr (Bird)...

and my Aunt Doris and Uncle Herbie...

I wanted to make a heritage layout for a contest, and chose to use this photo which I LOVE.
My grandmother is on the left. I have wonderful memories of visiting her and my grandfather in the home where my mother grew up in Vermont. I picture my grandmother wearing an apron of some sort and spending a lot of time in the kitchen whipping up wonderful meals, and tasty treats. When we would go to visit she would have 2-3 cookie jars filled with different kinds of cookies, such as: Date Pinwheels, Soft Sugar Cookies, Raisin Filled Cookies... I plan on doing some additional layouts to go with this page, with more info about my each on of them in the picture.

Brittany & Bryce

Thursday was Brittany and Bryce's Wedding Day, and what a wonderful day it was! The bride was beautiful and the groom handsome... It was my first chance to meet Bryce's family and they are all so wonderful! What a wonderful start for their new life together... having two families to love and support them. They are now on a honeymoon cruise in the Carribean... sounds warm and beautiful. Hope they take pictures!
I, of course, need to celebrate by making a scrapbook page : )
And, now that the groom has seen the bride in her dress, I can post the shutterfly photobook that I made with the bridal pictures. The wonderful photography is by Tracy Anderson Photography. I made the book as a surprise shower gift to Brittany. I also posted it on Shutterfly (with Brittany's permission). Shutterfly "featured" my book, and last I looked over 1200 people had opened and viewed it. But who could resist such a beautiful bride!
Thanks for taking a peek at it (below). And check out Dean's video below that.

A Beautiful Bride

Click here to view this photo book.

WHERE THE BROKEN ROAD ENDS: Brittany & Bryce

Here is the video slide show I created for the wedding reception of Cindy's niece. Special thanks for the engagement and bridal photos taken by Brittany's photographer, Tracy Anderson. I love the composition of many of her shots. Extra special thanks to Cindy for tagging along behind Tracy after the wedding ceremony on a chilly autumn day to take her own photos to add to the end of this video. I hope all will enjoy this.

Dean

Lessons in Canning

This past weekend Becky and I went down to my parents to learn the secrets of making the relishes that our family has been raised on...

There was alot of work involved. Shucking corn...

Chopping vegetables...

Getting all the spices and ingredients in the right proportions...
And when we were done, we had jars of corn relish and chili sauce to show for our work.
The smells in the kitchen were heavenly, and we were very excited that we had made it ourselves.
Here is a picture of the corn relish, which is so colorful, and delicious.
Thank you, Mom and Dad! We will treasure the memory of this weekend together!

Visiting the Utah State Fair

School Bus

When we were in town, this was a special experience each day... walking to and from the school bus stop with Priya and the other kids. Taj would come along too. Priya loved riding the bus so much, that on one occasion when Mommy stopped at the school and offered her a ride home, she turned it down. She didn't want to miss that ride on the School Bus!!

UR Loved

It's been too long since I made a scrapbook page. This is a picture that I took of Taj recently, and he stuck this ball up in front of his face-which ended up making a very interesting picture {at least to me.} Remember, you can click on these to enlarge...

Kids on Bikes

Priya and Taj just LOVE to ride their bikes! You can find them most evenings riding out in front of the house with neighborhood kids.

These are the legs of a little boy who is riding his bike now without training wheels! He is very courageous, and just gets right back on his bike when he falls. He is all boy!!

We had to fly back home on Sunday, so last minute we squeezed in a few family photos.
Us with the grandkids...

Picture of Mommy and baby, who are both doing wonderful!

And the whole K family. This is one remarkable family!! We enjoyed our visit and it was hard to leave.
We invited Erica to make entries on this blog and keep us up to date on how the family is doing!

NO TRAINING WHEELS

Here's a little music video showing Taj learning to ride his bike without training wheels. I realize not everyone will like the song and it's pushing the limits for me, too, but the kids love it.

Dean

The Training Wheels are Off!

Taj asked Daddy to take the training wheels off his little bicycle. Keep in mind that he turned three years old, less then three months ago... Well, with just 5 minutes of Daddy's help, he was off and riding on his own! He is amazing! He can go up and down inclines, and go fast, and do circles... and today he did a skidding stop...
Yes, he does take a spill now and again, but he even does that gracefully, and then just gets right back on his bike.

Bapa has been enjoying the morning walks to the bus stop with Priya. She loves riding on the bus with her friends.

... here are some sweet new girly things that Anu Bua sent to Asha. Won't she look just precious in them?!!

And here is the sweet little angel at nine days. I can almost picture a halo above her head in this pose.

Just a few photos...

Taj was beaming when he arrived home from pre-school today, with his craft project in tow.

Look at this little bundle of sweetness!! Asha is a snuggler, and a stretcher. She reminds us of baby Priya when she stretches. Although she looks beautiful in any color that she is dressed in, I think pink is perfection on her!

In daddy's arms she looks especially tiny, don't you think?

Another special meal provided by a thoughtful friend...

Doctor Visit

We were off to a busy start today... a pretty full schedule including Asha's first visit with the Pediatrician, and school for Priya and Taj. A neighbor brought a pretty basket of scones, that have been nice for snacking on today. Grammie and Bapa walked Priya to her bus stop.

Then it was time for the doctor visit. I went with Erica and the baby to the Doctor. Bapa took Taj to pre-school while we were gone.
I don't know how often the Doctor's office has someone who wants to take pictures of the visit-they probably thought I was a little nuts... oh well ;-)
The Doctor was very nice, and spent a long time on the visit.

Of course Asha was not very happy about being undressed. Then she had to endure being measured and weighed. She was crying, and suddenly found the back of her hand, which she started sucking on, and calmed herself a bit. It was so cute! She measured 19.25 inches in length, and weighed approx. 5 lbs, 13 oz. We are still waiting to get the results of how the jaundice is measuring, but the doctor thought she was looking pretty good in that regard.
Unfortunately for Asha, she had to have that nasty stick on the heel, and she really felt it, and she really let us know how displeased she was! (sorry about the blurry pictures, but that's the way it goes sometimes.)

In the afternoon we picked Priya up at the School Bus. She had taken a picture of Asha to school and showed it to her class, and told her class about her new little sister.

This evening Erica's very sweet neighbors prepared a wonderful gourmet dinner for us. It was delicious! Thank you so much!

Asha's 3rd Day

Asha is 3 days old today! She is so sweet, and just keeps getting more beautiful. Asha is just a delight. She loves to be held. She's a real sleepy head, sleeping the day away... EXCEPT, for waking promptly when she is hungry, which is approx. every 3 hours. She is a good eater!
So far today, she has required 3 changes of onesies, and outfits...and a blanket or two. I think she will be increasing the laundry load around here for sure.

Priya and Taj did make some time today for playing out on the deck, and later with neighborhood friends.

Priya enjoying the day. Back to school tomorrow though.

If you didn't already know, Taj is crazy for tools!

The day started with a delicious breakfast casserole which a nice friend of Erica's made and brought by for us. Rajiv took Priya and Taj to the park for some playtime.
Here is the little angel. Erica was hoping that she would like a binky, and so far she does...

It's exhausting being a big sister!

Being a big sister is hard work! Priya was wanting to hold Asha for the umpteenth time on Saturday. We looked over a few moments later to see these two sisters both sleeping soundly. It was such an adorable sight!

A big welcome

So many caring friends and family have called, sent flowers, stopped by. A new baby brings so much joy to everyone!
Today, the 29th, Erica and Rajiv took Asha into the hospital lab to check the status of her jaundice. So far, the condition is okay, and no cause for alarm.
Taj and Daddy have gone to play a little golf. Erica and baby are taking a nap... Priya has just finished playing with a friend, and so we are the only people in the house who are awake at the moment...

Asha's Arrival

What an exciting time this is! Asha arrived on the 27th of August. She is healthy, and such a beautiful little girl! The delivery went very well, and Erica and baby came home the following day.
Rajiv and Erica are happy to be home with their family of "five" now!




Asha has a very happy big brother and sister! They want to be with her all of the time.


Priya assisted in dressing Asha in her very first baby outfit.
Asha is one lucky little sister, to have such a loving big brother and sister!