Becca and Bryan get married!

This past March we had the pleasure of attending the wedding of one of Nate's younger sisters, Becca. We were so grateful that we were able to make the trip to Utah to be part of her special day.

The happy couple (Becca and Bryan Biggs--awesome matrimonial alliteration!):

Pre-nuptial sister bonding (my sister-in-laws, Adria and Becca, and me):

Post-nuptial cousin goofing-offing (McKenzie, Ashlyn, Seren, Natalie, Taylor, Tyler, Justin and Ryan):

Becca and Bryan with all of the nieces and nephews:

The Sumsion siblings:

And my dream of the perfect family pic...

...continues...

...to elude me.

But still a fantastic day spent with some of our most favorite people, the Sumsion clan. We often regret living so far from the family, and are grateful for any excuse to make the trip to be with everyone. Thanks to Becca and Bryan for including us. We wouldn't have missed it for the world, and look forward to watching their family grow in the coming years! (No pressure--we can wait!)

Happy 2009!

Man, it's pretty pathetic when you're posting about New Year's in August. Not quite as pathetic as posting about last year's Christmas, I guess. So...

Sumsion family New Year's Eve traditions include: games, silly hats, noise makers, confetti, letting the kids (no matter what their age) stay up until midnight if they can (and they usually can), games to pass the time, watching the Space Needle countdown and fireworks on TV, Nate recording the Space Needle and fireworks on TV with his video camera, and Martinelli's (in a variety of flavors). Yes, folks, we are party animals. Animals!

New Year's 2009 was extra special because we got to share it with Sam and his girlfriend, Kari.

They were good sports about wearing the hats. (Not that they had a choice!)

Elise and Kenzie make some noise:

Tyler tosses back the sparkling cider (we like to celebrate at home, so we don't have to worry about the designated driver thing):

Sydney's all ready to go (for hours) with hat, noisemaker and confetti:

Then promptly passes out when the big moment is over:

Nate catches the whole thing on film (doesn't even pause for the celebratory toast!):

And I resolve to spend another year posing ridiculously for pictures (it's important to have attainable goals):

2009 is disappearing just as fast as 2008 did! Time flies when you're getting old.

Christmas 2008

Christmas snuck up on me last year, much like it does every year. I think it was all that snow and three snow days the kids got leading into their regularly scheduled winter break. That plus iffy roads do not make the best conditions for holiday preparations for moms who procrastinate as much as I do. I'll never learn.

Thanks goodness for having family nearby. My sister, Kim, offered to take the kids for an afternoon while I wrapped presents, which was awesome. Even having McKenzie lose a lens* out of her glasses while sledding down their hill was worth the few extra hours I had to get some things done.

Our Christmas traditions are pretty simple. We get a tree and decorate it together as a family after mom puts on the lights. We set up the nativity sets and a few other decorations (I'm in the less is more camp, but the kids are firmly in the MORE is more camp). Christmas Eve the kids each get a new pair of pajamas and set their stockings out in a special corner of the living room. Christmas morning the kids open their stockings and then take turns opening gifts one at a time, from youngest to oldest. Most years we get together with our Lohberg cousins to play games and eat chex mix and candy (usually homemade by Kim--yum!), and some years, like this past year, we're lucky enough to have my brother Sam (Uncle Sam) celebrate with us, too.

Christmas morning (in the new PJs):

Usually, each kid gets one main gift and a few other fun things on their Christmas lists.

Tyler got an electric guitar:

McKenzie got an ipod shuffle:

Elise got a Nintendo DS (as she would say, finally!):



And Sydney got some playhouse accessories so she could have proper tea parties with all of her stuffed animal friends:



The Lohberg's also gave us a fun game table:



Playing games with the Lohbergs:

We were so grateful to be able to celebrate the holiday with our family. Another great Christmas!


*My poor sister and her kids spent forever trying to find that darn lens out in the snow. They finally did a few days later when the snow had started to melt. Unfortunately, snow, plus road, plus sanding trucks and snow plows = one thoroughly messed up lens. Fortunately, they were still under warranty so we had the lenses replaced for free! We kept the old ones for keepsakes, especially after how hard Kim had looked for it!)

Let it SNOW!

Last winter brought more snow than we had seen here in years, and it was the first year we had a white Christmas.

It was beautiful to see the neighborhood covered in a fresh, white blanket of powder:

And the kids had a blast building snowmen:

And snowduck:

But it was also cold:

And three snow days leading into Christmas break meant a longer winter break, a longer school year, and less time for a procrastinating mother to finish up last minute holiday preparations without four pairs of curious eyes watching her every move.

We were grateful for the roof over our head and warm beds and all of the things we take for granted that so many others must do without. And we were grateful for the snow. But I think I would be just as grateful if this year we saw a little less of it. I'm perfectly content with one good snowy day where the kids can get their fill of snowmen and snowball fights and I can get my fill of bundling up children and cleaning up their wet messes afterwards. Yeah, one day ought to do it.

Elise is seven!

So she's been seven for seven months. Seems like a perfect time to write about it. (Plus, I've got to squeeze it in before I can post about Sydney turning four last week.)

Elise has the misfortune of being a December baby. Not only a December baby, but a post-Christmas December baby. We try not to let her birthday get too lost in the holiday hubbub. I hope we've succeeded somewhat.

Lucky for us, my brother, Uncle Sam, was in town for Christmas and was able to celebrate Elise's birthday with us. We played around at the Pacific Science Center, then came home for presents, cake and ice cream and a little Rock Band.

At the Science Center:

It's hard to believe she's seven. She still seems so small!

Opening presents:

The haul:

Celebrating with the Lohberg cousins (You can always count on at least one of them to be hamming it up--Kenzie's usually a safe bet):

Cake (I always go all out with the cake decorating):

A few days later, she took a few friends to see The Tale of Despereaux and back home for brownies and ice cream.

I made a goal last year to write something about each one of my children for their birthdays, and I actually did it! (I know, I can't believe it either.) Here's what I wrote for Elise:

They say every good story has to have a conflict. I guess that would explain why out of all that I’ve written and said about my children, I usually have the most to say about Elise.

The last seven years have been a roller coaster ride with squeals of delight and screams of terror, arms raised high in joy and victory, and eyes covered waiting for it to be over. I sometimes worry that I’m spending too much of this ride covering my eyes and waiting for the end. The thing with rides is, the end always comes before you know it, sometimes before you’re ready for it, and ultimately almost always before you want it.

Some days I feel like I should know this ride well enough by now to anticipate the twists and turns, to look forward to them or at least ready myself for them. And some days I do. But there are always those other days where I’m thrown for an extra loop or maybe I just ate one too many churros before hopping through the turnstile. That’s not the ride’s fault. I love this ride. In my right mind, I know no matter what I never want to get off.

Elise is seven today, and I’m determined that seven is the year I’ll figure out how to be her mom. Or maybe she’ll figure out how to be my daughter. Yep, seven is the year. Lucky seven.

I promise that even when I push you away, I’ll always be standing right here, waiting. Promise me you’ll always come back.

Happy Birthday, Elise! I love you!

I'm still not sure we've figured things out, but so far it's been a pretty great year.

Sumsions got the music in them

Tyler and McKenzie have continued taking piano. Tyler's in his fourth year and McKenzie's in her third. For this year's spring recital, McKenzie played "The Tide Is High", made famous by Blondie (I think someone else sang it before Blondie, but Blondie's the version I know and love, besides Kenzie's, of course). She did a great job.

Tyler played a piece called "Phantom of the Keys". He also did a great job, very smoothly recovering from a couple of very small stumbles. I've been impressed with their progress despite their resistance to my requests for more practice time, and hope that they'll stick with it for a while. I keep telling them, "No one ever regrets taking more piano lessons, but everyone always regrets quitting piano lessons!" I'm pretty sure they don't believe me, but they're humoring me for now.

Just like they're humoring me posing for these post-recital pictures:

And here's where we pretend they're actually playing (I couldn't very well disturb their actual performances with my flash photography!):

Middle school band concerts rock!

Tyler was in concert band this year, and performed in a winter and spring concert. This past year's winter concert happened to fall on my birthday. Happy birthday to me! As I’m sure you know or can at least imagine, middle school band concerts are a very special treat. One might even say an almost indescribable experience. I won’t get into too many details because I think you need to experience it for yourselves. After all, hearing is believing.

Any guesses as to what the Jazz Band is playing here? Come on, guess. I dare you. (By the way, Tyler is in the Concert Band, so he had no part in this particular performance.)



The Concert Band was the grand finale, and rightfully so, I think. At least I recognized the song. Tyler's playing clarinet, second row, fourth chair from the left:



By the time the spring concert came around, Tyler was section leader. He enjoyed this last minute addition to their set list (he's second row, third chair from the left):



Can you believe they only spent a few days learning "Spider Pig"?!

Unfortunately, Tyler's decided he's had enough of band for now. I hope the girls enjoy playing the clarinet, too. Because they will. Be playing it. Oh yes. They will.