Park Reunion

Landen Twiss, Brooklyn Badger, and Charlie Koch cruisin' the playground. Charlie of course, got the most comfortable ride, while Landen was a little squished in the back. Unfortunately, this cute little arrangement didn't last long!

On Saturday, Nov. 17th, a few of my friends got together from BYU. Sarah Twiss was visiting from Colorado, so we all had a great excuse to get together. The great group consisted of me, Nora, Jennette, and Tiffany. We met up with Sarah (who patiently waited for her severly late friends - some things never change) at good ol' Finkbiner Park in Glendora. Of course, we all brought our kids (in utero in Jennette's case) and husbands, except for Jennette, because her husband was working. It was great catching up with the gals and watching our kids hang out!

Here is Charlie Koch and Brooklyn sharing some wagon time. Little Landen decided he wanted out because he got pushed up against the back edge with the weight of these two kids pushing on him. So sad! Charlie seems to be enjoying himself, however! The gals - we missed Tiff in this picture. She had already left for home - she wins the "Mother of the Youngest Child" award. Tyler was about a month old at the time!

On the left, we have our 7 1/2 month pregnant Jennette. Then there's Sarah, then Nora (both not pregnant), then, me, who was, well, somewhere between pregnant and not pregnant at the time. (I miscarried a day later.) Crazy!

Done

Well, things went down on Sunday night/early Monday morning. Desirae got a D and C at 5PM on Monday (she had to wait because she ate breakfast). The doctor said things went very well. She's doing fine except for the fact that we all three now have colds. Thanks for your prayers and support. (Special shout out to TJ and Michelle for the flowers) Thanks again.

-Stephen

Bad News Birthday

Hey Everybody,
Today is Desirae's 28th birthday and unfortunately we received some bad news. Yesterday, Desirae had an ultrasound and they didn't find a heartbeat. The tech didn't tell Desirae anything except that the baby was small for how far along she should be and left before Desirae could ask her any questions. Today, the OB called with the bad news and had Desirae come in. He told her that she is probably having a miscarriage. He ordered more blood work and another ultrasound to be done next Wednesday to find out if there has been any growth or change. Jim and I have given Desirae a blessing and left things in the Lord's hands. Please keep Desirae in your prayers and we'll keep you updated.

-Stephen

Trick or Treat!

Here she is! Brooklyn loved the whole Halloween affair. To her, it meant the first taste of candy corn, dum-dums, milk duds, and a host of other delicious goodies - this holiday is first-rate!Angel befriends bumblebee! This was our first costume party on Saturday night. It was some sort of fall ball at my parents ward. Littered about the lovely parking lot that night was popcorn, hot dogs, chili, kids in costumes, and of course, the church-wide tradition of trunk-or-treating!
A fierce trio: Batman, Robin, and one white angel with mardi-gras beads(handed out as one of the treats that day). This was our second trick-or-treat experience. It took place at about 10 A.M. on Halloween in downtown Glendora. Brooklyn got to sample some of the candy she had been collecting and was glad that she amassed gobs of it! Needless to say, after several attempts, no nap was ever taken on this special day... it may have had something to do with the sugar overload...

Brooklyn had no probably walking right up to the store owners and trick-or-treating while her older cousin Caden (Batman) played more of the shy guy. Caleb (Robin) got cranky after a while, and Brooklyn tried to soothe him by sharing some delicious candy, which he graciously accepted.
Round three: the night crawlers! (As if twice wasn't enough!) This time the hunting grounds were grandma and grandpa's neighborhood! (Notice even my dad dressed in his best stripes for this one!) Brooklyn became quite the professional trick-or-treater, practicing all the proper etiquette. She knows the proper greeting at each stop, "trick or treat," (in her words, "treat-treat!") and with some prompting, she also thanked each neighbor before we left. She does need to develop the self-discipline to not grab a fist full of goods from each candy bowl that came within reach, or extend her open hand for more candy after someone already deposited her allotment into her bag. We'll work on that for next year...

The Pumpkin Patch

The luxury limo battles oncoming traffic and other four-wheeling wagons in the parking lot for the first-in-line spot at the crosswalk. "Ha, ha! You'll never catch up with me - my Papa's pulling this hot rod, see you at the patch, slow pokes!" "Aw, man! I gotta share my ride with these big orange balls. Who's idea was this?"
What happened to the comfortable and spacious wagon I knew only moments ago?
Well now that I've been booted from my ride, I guess I'll feign some interest in the pumpkins. After all, I'm sure my gramma needs my expert advice on which ones to take home.

Playing at the Park

Who looks like they are having more fun at the park: Daddy or his daughter?Weeeeeeee!

Take a look at those facial expressions on the slide! I don't know which one is more hillarious! Okay, they're both pretty cute!

High School Reunion

10 years, wow! It was a bit like a time warp. I am so glad that I have stayed true to my beliefs! My life has been truly blessed as a result!
It probably wasn't that fun for Stephen to spend several hours with perfect strangers, but I was so glad that he came along for the moral support! Even after I harassed him about not matching me and giving away his black suit to Good Will, he still looked good (duh!) and it was a fun date! Below is a picture of us with Crystal and Joshua, our dinner-table neighbors. Crystal was in my English class all four years of high school. She ended up majoring in English at Cal State Long Beach and now is working on her Master's Degree there. Her hubby she met in her Italian class. He confesses taking another semester of Italian, just to get to know her - hey it worked! P.S. She looks exactly the same as she did in high school! Good ol' Craig Williams! My memories with Craig date back to 5th grade in Ms. Hagan's class! He is really sweet. It was great to see him. I wish Genesee would have come! She would have loved seeing all of these people too!
This is Courtney Rainey. She majored in English. Now she's working on her masters in Art History so that she can fall back on teaching if nothing else works out in the fine arts realm. I am happy for her because she has definitely stayed true to herself, she is pursuing her goals, and she is independent and happy.