Kim and Cliff Family Collage 2009

Carolyn & Tom Family Collage 2009

Jim Family Collage 2009

Ron Family Collage 2009

Happy New Year: Russ and Ron in State College PA

Elder Caleb Blood

Life is far from easy in the Detroit area, but Caleb has made the most of his experience.

Russell Family Collage 2009

Christmas Family Collage 2009

Be sure to double click.

Christmas 1962

Merry Christmas!

And Happy Birthday and whatnot. It's a tad quiet here and the mornings are no longer summer, but frigid, frigid winter. I thought I'd spread some Christmas cheer and stuff and junk.

Michael turned 7 last week and had a fabulous birthday!



And my baby, who is 7 months old, thinks it's time to walk now. She's standing in her crib and cruising furniture. She's a busy little baby.


Also, I'm moving my blog to www.staceysmotheringmoments.com. Feel free to visit anytime!

Love to all the Blood clan!

Stacey and family

So cute

The boys are finally getting bigger and they actually started smiling this week! It was a long time coming and we are so excited to see them start to interact.

Here is a current picture.

Velna at Coral Desert Rehab

Here is Velna, racing down the hall at Coral Desert Rehab in St. George, recuperating from hip replacement.  She will merely kill me when she sees this, but thought you should have proof she is up and going.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from a Starburst, a Pteradactyl, Snow white, Elmo, Winnie the Pooh, a Hippie and an Indian princess!

Which one is which?

The boys are continuing to grow and keep us on our toes almost 24 hours a day. They are sweet little guys though. Max is in the mid 7 pound range and Matthew is in the mid 6 pound range. I took these pictures the other day and didn't realize how alike the boys look until I looked at the pictures. Max is on the lady bug blanket and Matthew is on the pink one ( I know I know, but I ran out of clean blue ones and I had pink from my girls)

People like to ask us if we are getting much sleep now that the twins are home. In answer to that question, I list Exhibit A, B, and C.






No further explanation needed.

They are home!!!

Max and Matthew came home today. We didn't think it would ever actually happen, but at 6:00 tonight we brought them home. It is strange having them here without any monitors or nurses but it will be so nice to be able to see them whenever we want to. They were born three weeks ago at midnight so they spent 3 weeks in the NICU. They are doing well and are so cute! Go to our family blog for more info.

Are you ready for some football?

We are!! Go cougars and all that. What a fabulous game! And Grandpa, I appreciated your thoughts over on The Curmudgeonly Professor. But I must say that although I have become quite the football fan, I don't always understand all the rules. I discovered last night that my ten year old son knows more about football than I do. That shouldn't be terribly surprising considering he's playing his third season this year, but still. He was able to explain to his poor un-football-educated mother why and how the whole declining the penalties works. (Andrew is playing tight end this year. It's so much fun to watch!) Maybe by the time he's playing in highschool, assuming that happens, I'll actually understand the game. Oh, and did I mention...GO COUGARS!!

The Jim & Sharman Bloods--Summer 09

Having figured out how to upload pictures to my Facebook account, I now feel sufficiently confident to conquer the next frontier: posting pictures to the family blog. I am unstoppable, supremely skilled. I shall prevail. (And you thought we weren't posting because we're just lazy.)

Jake & Kate at the deYoung Museum in San Francisco. King Tut was a no show, but there was a lot of other very cool, very old stuff from Egypt.

Nat's first driving lesson at Thanksgiving Point...

Jim and I were by far the youngest adults (Jake is a young adult...) in the audience at the Carmel Bach Festival's Tower Music presentation. Jim and I felt young(ish) and spry...

Ok--that took awhile. Next frontier: proper formatting. Baby steps, Sharman. Baby steps...

Texas visitors

Visitors from Round Rock

Guess who she belongs to?

Okay, so I got tired of looking at Carolyn (grandma!) after 3 weeks and no one else was posting anything about Sadie. Soooo....I stole the pictures off of Daniel & Carly's blog. And I must say that Sadie is absolutely perfect. I got to visit and hold her on Thursday. Congratulations to Daniel and Carly. Check out their blog for more pictures.

Happy Anniversary

Nielsons

Portrait of Carolyn

Carolyn having her picture taken.  Brat.

Father's Day 2009

Allie

Sad news: Our ever-so-friendly dog and family companion for 10 years, Allie, passed away on Monday. She loved people, had a killer tail, and just needed to be included in everything, including family prayer, meal preparation, and greeting guests at the door. She loved to nose her way under the kids' folded arms during prayer, follow Sharman's every step around the kitchen (she particularly liked to stand guard at the refrigerator), and go on long, long walks with Jim. She didn't always respond to "come," but she ALWAYS came when we said "treat!" We miss her.

Hey, I have cute kids too!

Okay, so maybe they are a little older than Stacey's, but they are still cute. Especially at the BYU football games. Go Cougars! Only a few more weeks (like 8) until football starts. Yay!!

Kids cuter than Kobe

It's time for the egregiousness that has become this blog to be moved from top spot! And so I present you with pictures of something MUCH cuter. My kids!

A couple of weeks ago, the kids caught a garter snake out in the yard. The snake got to go on many adventures and traveled far and wide. Mostly in the grimey hands of a six year old. It's really a miracle they didn't kill the poor snake.



On the 16th, Andrew turned 10! He had a fabulous birthday (for details visit my blog), and I now feel even older than before! I can't believe I'm old enough to have a ten year old! Now that's just scary!



And finally, Andrew and Lillie had their first ever piano recital. It was nothing big, but they did great and it was fun to see! (Again, for more details, see my blog!)



Phew! I feel better now. I could hardly come here anymore knowing I would have to stare at Clenched Jaw! My kids are WAY cuter, if I do say so myself!

Celebrate good times

Let the celebration begin.

Hidden Garden Tour - Highland homes

Backyard of the first house we saw in Highland. It actually "connects" to the second house by way of the pond. The pond is huge.

The steps coming down the other side of the pond. I really liked all the contrasting shades of green along the path.

This is in the backyard of the second home we saw in Highland. The view is from the back patio and courtyard area. Very inviting!