Thursday, February 28, 2013

Nikki's meet

This is Nikki's floor routine from her last gymnastics meet last weekend. This was her first meet at an away gym, and I think she did a great job. She placed first on floor and third all-around. She's so fun to watch! This Saturday she is going to a meet in Charleston, SC, and she is practically counting the hours until it's time to go. :)

Hannah's 12th birthday!

 Hannah had to come up with her own decorations for her party this year. I think she enjoyed it, though.
She asked for a snowflake cake, and it turned out that it snowed on the day of her party.
 We don't always get snow that works for snowballs and snowmen, but this was perfect. Even if it didn't last more than a few hours.




 Poor Ryan ended up half frozen and not at all happy by the end of our time outside. It's just never been worth it to actually buy gloves and boots worthy of playing in the snow.
Our snowman with pine straw hair and a mustache! His name was Mr. Muddy.


I had my 16-year-old nephew take the video, and it's a pretty good representation of the chaos we get when we all get together. Lots of fun. So, it turned out to be a great day. Even though it snowed, the roads were clear enough that everyone was still able to come to the party, and we had a great time. Can you believe she's 12?!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Como te llamas?

My poor neglected blog. I guess I should find something to write about. This afternoon I've been scraping off paint and sanding a dresser we found on craigslist for the baby. That's why I'm now sitting down and I don't know if I'll make it back up for a while. Should be plenty of time for me to think of something to post about.

How about baby names? Finding a name for this baby has been pretty rough. Nothing has really seemed like a great option to us. However, now that we have about a month or so left until she comes, we have finally decided on some names that we both are willing to leave on the table. All of our other kids have middle names that have family significance, and I have been able to find scriptures that go along with the meaning of their first names. Well, the names we have been thinking of are family names, but finding a scripture to go along with the meaning doesn't seem to be going too well.

So, here's the list we've been thinking about. We are still quite open to any suggestions -- particularly any of you who know of some hidden family gems that we've missed. Seems like those are hard for us to come by. I'm sure Wilhemina and Artemesia were great women, I'm just not going to use their names.

Natalie -- that would be after Nate. Wouldn't it be great if this baby is as sweet as he is?
Lola -- my grandma, but this is actually probably off the list now because I don't think Nate likes it. It always makes me think of that song about Lola being a showgirl anyway. Not that my grandma was a showgirl.
Ruth -- my other grandmother, lots of our family have used this for a middle name but no one has given this as a first name. So I think that would be neat, but ... I don't know.
Joy -- my mom's middle name was Joyce, but I like Joy better. Close enough? Her friend that introduced her to the gospel was also named Joy.
Maren -- Nate's grandmother's name was Marion, and I think this is a pretty variation of that.
Alene -- I think this is a pretty middle name. This is from Nate's mom and grandma.
Rebekah -- No family history here, but Nikki might move out if we don't go with this one. This name was on our list for both Hannah and Nikki, but obviously we never used it.

Combinations?
Natalie Alene -- too long
Natalie Ruth
Natalie Joy
Lola Ruth -- oh wait, Nate doesn't like that one :)
Ruth Alene
Maren Alene
Maren Ruth
Maren Joy
Rebekah Joy
Rebekah Ruth Robbins -- too many R's?

Would any of these names scar our poor child? I don't know what to do. Maybe we'll throw them in a hat and pick one out. What process do you go through to name your kids?