My Buddy

For those of you who live in Utah, you know how the dry air and cold weather combined can wreak havoc on your skin. Well, apparently Alex decided to take matters into his own hands....

"Otion" (lotion) on the face, "otion" in the hair, "otion" just about everywhere. Luckily for me, I was at work so Dad was on clean-up duty.

Excuse me while I get emotional for just a moment... Last weekend my parents were in town and as my mom and I were watching Alex play and just be his cute little self, she said to me, "Don't you feel blessed?"

It took me back to several years ago, I remember crying to her on the phone after one of many failed pregnancies. She reassured me, "it will happen". I hoped it would, but wasn't all too sure. I'm not sure why it took so long for him to be sent to us, but not a day goes by that I don't feel gratitude for the joy he's brought to our family. Better late than never, right?!

Senior Pics

Props to my nephew and sister for asking me to take his senior pictures. (For the record, I do not proclaim to be anything remotely close to a photographer...I just have a nice camera and sometimes get lucky with a good shot or two...) Anyhow, being a typical 18 year old boy, Erik had no desire to suffer through getting his pictures done by some stranger, and my sister Lorna had no desire to pay for pictures done by some stranger, so they asked me to do it for them. I was more than happy to and had a good time doing it. Turns out, they were actually doing me a favor, because when Steph saw Erik getting his pictures done, she decided she would be ok with letting me do hers. Senior year comes with lots of expenses, and I was thrilled to have the chance to eliminate the cost of pictures off that list. Steph is so photogenic and we were happy with the way they turned out. Here are a few of my faves...

I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee...

Thizz--Cougs & Panthers--Sadie's

This post is just about a few random goings-on at the Lilly's..... 1) Thizz face- This is the official face Steph and her cousins make when they take a group picture together. She's been prepping Alex for the next family get together, I thought it was pretty hilarious.

2) After several years of being a (Kearns)Cougar family, with Steve coaching and Steph playing, it is with sadness I announce that we are now a "broken" family. Steph of course is in her last year at Kearns, and Steve has gone back to his alma mater, the West High Panthers, where he's working and coaching football. Consequently, Alex and I have spent several Friday nights at home because I didn't want to choose which game to go to....sniff sniff. Here is a picture of Steve and Steph showing that Cougars and Panthers can live in the same den in harmony.

3) Last weekend Steph went to the Sadies Hawkins dance. Her date was her good friend Saul. Don't they make a cute pair?

Not So Terrible Two's

I know this is supposed to be the "terrible twos", but so far (knock on wood), I am loving this age. With the exception of the occasional tantrum, Alex is a pretty happy kid.

He's been cracking me up these days with some of the things he says. For example, he calls me "Son". Like, he'll walk up to me and say, "What doin', Son?" Or, "here ya go, Son!" He will also often tell me, "Good morning, Sir". Clearly, he has a little gender confusion when it comes to people's titles.

We took these pictures last weekend when we drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon. The colors at the mouth of the canyon were gorgeous. Unfortunately, we drove up a little too far and lost all the color for our "photo shoot". That's ok though, it felt so good to breathe in the fresh mountain air, but it made me a little sad to think that it's probably the last time till next year since there'll probably be snow up there next week. BOOOO!!

Fall Family Fotos

We went to my brother's house last weekend and he has a really nice area in his front yard for pictures. I make my family crazy, but I wanted to get some pictures of us so they suffered through it. Especially Alex, who was not having it! We got a few good shots, and although I received no gratitude at the time, I'm sure my family will be glad several years from now!

Greatest Show on Earth, Greatest Nephew on Earth

Last weekend, Steve's nephew Raymond picked up Alex and Steph and took them to dinner and then to the circus. Get this...he's a 22 year old single guy. How cool is that, that he would spend a Friday night taking his cousins out? Anyways, Steph didn't even want to go because she's scared of clowns and the idea of the circus kind of creeped her out. (Can't say I blame her.) But she actually loved it and said she would go again. Apparently Alex sat stonefaced and silent the whole time. I'm sure he liked it too, but was just not quite sure what to think about it. However, when he got home he was a chatterbox, talking about the circus and "eh-phunts". As you can see, Raymond also spoiled him with lots of souvenirs too. Steph and Alex are lucky to have such a nice cousin!