Photo Friday

Happy Birthday!!!

It was our pleasure to join Heather and Chloe on their birthday, and a fun day it was!  Church was awesome because we got to see April play all of the piano music for the Christmas program.  She did an amazing job!  I was very impressed by her playing skills.  Heather, Joe and Chloe did a great job singing as well.

At home while we were just relaxing Heather had a surprise visitor who brought her a real Christmas Tree.  I am pretty sure she is going to sleep with that thing tonight.

This is Heather hugging her new tree.  Joe may be competing with this tree for affection over the next week.

Chloe got lots of crafty stuff for her birthday and enjoyed making things all afternoon.  Then, Heather got to open her presents ending with this great surprise!

The helmet seems to have brought joy to everyone in the family!

Heather immediately jumped up (after the hugs) and went for a ride with Joe!  It is always fun to get what you wanted but didn't think you were going to get.  That is the best!

Then, we enjoyed layered brownie cake.  Yummm . . . Heather and I may have added peanut butter just for fun.

Chloe is getting ready to blow out the candles!

Heather and Chloe had no trouble taking those candles down.

It was a great birthday day!  Happy birthday ladies . . . and dad.  :)

Photo Friday

Jodi inspired me by posting her Christmas tree.  I just thought I would post the Christmas stockings I made for Dad and me.  I love them!

Photo Friday

Merry Christmas

Hello Family,

I posted such a silly downer blog yesterday, (I'm sure you laughed at my pity party), I thought I would lift your spirits a different way today. As I was not studying for my finals, I checked facebook and a friend had posted the following video. I was SO excited because I wanted to hear us. I was SO excited because I was proud of us for being the background music for such a beautiful exhibit.

Well, I listened to it. And let me tell you, I was blown away. I had chills nearly the whole time, I cried, I was in awe. I'm listening to it again for the 3rd time right now. Probably 4th or 5th by the time I am done with this post.

I just have a few things to tell you about this piece. It was arranged by our graduate conductor, Chris. He is hilarious and quite fantastic. I didn't know that he had arranged this piece until just before our last concert performing it. It blew me away. I had the opportunity to perform this piece 3 times for an audience. And every time I did, I had an amazing spiritual experience. While warming up with it, I had amazing spiritual experiences. I don't know why that happened, but it did. They were beautiful and touched my heart and soul. I wish every one of you could have had the opportunity to be there and take part in our rich Christmas program. Unfortunately, what we wish does not always happen. So I hope that this piece, which was by far the most wonderful, gives you a taste of it. But I hope even more than that that you can experience a little piece of Heaven. That your testimony can be renewed. That it will be strengthened. That you will know with added measure that Jesus Christ indeed came down to this Earth as a baby to be our Savior. He grew and learned just like us, but He was perfect. And with that perfection, He saved us. He saved us all. He saved us physically, spiritually, emotionally, and any way that you, personally, need to be saved. I know he is my Savior. I know He died for me. I know He suffered for me. I feel his strength and power in my life everyday. I know that Heavenly Father loves me. I know He cares for me and is watching out for me continually.

Preparing for this concert was very stressful to me. I didn't know words, I didn't know notes, I didn't want to go. I didn't even want to be there while we were warming up. But I was blessed much more than I ever imagined I would be from these concerts. Isn't that how it happens so often? Our trials are but a moment even if they last a lifetime. I know that someday we will be called home. We will then be with our Savior, never to depart from his glorious presence. We will be with our families. Forever. At Peace and at Rest. Have hope. Take Heart. and rely on the Great Mediator, the Bread of Life, the Prince of Peace.

Let us remember Christ this season. Let Him motivate all of your actions and thoughts.

I love you all so much, Family. You are a so special to me. I love you each individually and am so grateful for you and your examples to me and those around you. Thank you.

I hope you Enjoy :) (Just let it envelop you. Don't be afraid to listen more than once!)

Love,

Marquie

tis the season

for finals...

this is me. starting to study for finals when I could be in Europe with my brother.
It stinks. And I have a scheduled final on Thursday. WHY?! That's SO LATE! I could've been in Austria... or Germany. or London. or SOMEWHERE IN EUROPE!

Tis okay. I probably would've failed most of my finals if I had to take them last week.
Except it's not actually okay... because I'm not in Europe and I could be. With my brother. Whattheheck.

HAPPY MONDAY!!!

Photo Friday

Shameless selfie on the day of my baby shower.

Organizing baby clothes.  They're so tiny!

Had a really good day price matching.  All of this cost about $10.  Smoothies.  Mmmm.

Been wrapping presents in advance, so we won't have to worry about
them if the baby arrives a little early.

Photo Friday

Vida is loving cold weather attire.

Jaime's has loved pretending to be my mom after my showers.

Photo Friday

I am on a date with Vida right now and Justin is on a date with Jaime.

She took my spoon away and told me to stop eating her ice cream.

Our Thanksgiving Week

We so missed being together with all of you this Thanksgiving week.  And appreciated the texts and photos you sent.  Here are some photos of our week with the Petersen's.

The Petersen children "playing" in the snow.  Can you see the snow?

Chloe decorated the table for Thanksgiving dinner and did a wonderful job

This is just before our first course...crackers, cheese, and deviled eggs.  The second course was soup, then salad, then our turkey dinner......and later that evening PIE of course!

This is Chloe celebrating her snow-womaness!

Lovely children after decorating the tree today!

Look closely....can you guess which are mine and Grandpa's favorite decorations?

And here we go!  Straight into Christmas.....but now, it is so quiet at our house. :(

Vacation Pics

Photo Friday

An Opinion Blog

Giving this a try: http://seasontotalk.blogspot.com

The first post explains why I created the blog.  The second is an opinion blog, which will be the body of the blog from here on out.

I created it because I have a lot of stuff to say, and Justin and I agreed that our family blog probably isn't the place to do that.

Also, I feel pretty insecure about it - stuff like "why am I doing this?" "who will read it?" "what am I looking for exactly?" "why won't a journal do?"  No real answers to those questions.  It's just a place for me to type my thoughts, and I've been drawn to the idea for awhile now.  Enjoy, or don't. :)

Do you Mo?

Every November for the last three years I have grown a mustache. It is uncomfortable, itchy, and for all intents and purposes, distasteful (unless you are Tom Selleck, of course). It has a purpose, though. It is my way to participate in Movember. Movember is a movement to raise awareness and funds for men's health, specifically testicular and prostate cancer. One member of my team lost his father, and another battled his own fight with testicular cancer and won. Growing my mustache is how I show support for these members of my team, as well as for men and families everywhere that battle the fight with cancer.

2011

I know each of you are in different financial circumstances, but I want to provide you the opportunity, if you are able, to donate to this cause. I feel it is very worthwhile. So much so that I go every November with very few kisses from my wife, strange looks from passersby, and looks of distaste from judging folks along the way.

2012

Even if you don't have the means to donate, perhaps you could take a moment and pass the message along to folks you know. To donate, you can go to http://mobro.co/JustTheHutch.

2013

And just for fun, each November we do a photo shoot to further promote the cause. I hope you have enjoyed highlights from the last three years.

2013

Photos

Here are some fun photos from our week.

There was a great science activity at the library.  Joshua answered a question correctly, so he got to go up and help.  The scientist was a silly man and had him wear lots of protective eyewear.  It was perfect for Joshua.

We got our first snow and it was fun to see some of it stick to the window.  It is all gone now and we enjoyed a nice warm day today, but it was pretty while it was here.  

This is Joshua just being Joshua, so enjoy!

Next week is musical week, so that should be fun and adventurous!

Photo Birthday Friday

Breakfast with the family this morning. A few crazies!

Photo Friday

Picking Daddy up from the airport.
Or him picking us up, one of the two.

Dress up from Mom's closet, a daily joy.

Sometimes it's just hard to make it through lunch.

Ordered the Little House series!  Thinking of reading it
to the girls for the next school year.

I made 4 loaves.  Sold one for $5 to a neighbor, and traded 1 to a neighbor
for 1 doz eggs from her backyard.  I was really excited about it!

Pho-toes

okay. you just get a lot of awesome pictures today.
Never fear. It's all makeup. I love my major with a passion.

I did this ALL BY MYSELF! My story was that Patrick elbowed me in the face during the night. Which is almost true. 

I actually didn't do this one. But it's almost all airbrushed, and I LOVE airbrush. An intermediate student did it.

and believe it or not, I'm supposed to be a fairy. What a glamorous fairy, right?!

This was our day on lines. It was awesome.

such a pretty girl.

this one is weird cuz you can see my lipgloss... but you get the idea. 

SO. that's it. and I struggle hard-core with this formatting stuff. But it's all the same, right?