Ending The Year With A BANG!!

Besides the normal excitement that comes towards the end of the year with Halloween, Thanksgiving with family, and all the Christmas holiday festivities, we also have several Birthdays to celebrate. And I guess that we felt the need for even a little more spice before the year-end, so we decided to include a pregnancy through the holidays, a birth, and another future birthday into the mix!

Meeting Baby Brother Luke! LOVE At First Sight!!

The beginning of December was also the right time for Kate to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints after her 8th Birthday in November. We are pleased with her preparation and decision to be baptized, following after our Savior. She BEAMED the entire day! Truly, she has a radiant smile and eyes that sparkle!!

We have had many things a-going with life, an ever-growing family, and the start of Pinnacle Preschool, but we are glad that you have not entirely given up on us as bloggers, despite our negligence to our blogspot.

We have just been busy trying to end this year with a BANG!!

December 30, 2009 Lucas (Luke) Johnston Laudie was born at 9:18 pm. He weighed in at 7 lbs 2 oz and 20 inches long. Both Mother and Luke are healthy and doing very well. They came home 20 hours after birth, so all could get better sleep than they were getting at the hospital.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. We're happy to have Luke in our family.

Preschool Open House . . . All Are Invited!!

Well, the basement is just about complete and we have scheduled an Open House for this upcoming Monday.

The main purpose of the Open House is to highlight Pinnacle Preschool, but is also open to anyone who is just curious about our basement

. . . or who wants to visit with friends

. . . or who wants refreshments.

So . . .

for anyone who is enrolled or interested in Pinnacle Preschool, or who wants to participate for any reason . . .

Please Come On By!

Monday, August 31st

6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

The Laudie Home

(across from the park)

Call for questions:

407-6908

We Need More Kates

There once was a billboard that boldly stated,

"We Need More Kates."

We couldn't agree more.

It was our favorite billboard.

We meant to get a picture of it . . .

But, alas, that billboard is no longer.

 

At least we have a decent replacement.

We like this one nearly as well.

And, yes, we are just a LITTLE partial to KATES!!

The Bunny Came

 

We had a middle-of-the-night visitor that filled all our plastic eggs with CHOCOLATE candy and hid them all around the house for a HIGH-SPEED Egg Hunt Easter morning.  You see, the night before the kids fill their Easter baskets with empty plastic eggs.  The Easter Bunny knows to fill them with candy and hide them, so that in the morning we get to have the excitement of the Egg Hunt, or rather, the Egg Race!  All the Bunny's hard work and it is over in a matter of a couple minutes, if that!

Kate got her "Bobbleheads" (which to most people are called Littlest Pet Shop animals), Spencer found a Bionicle creature in his basket, and Nathan's face absolutely lit up when he spotted his new Mack truck from the movie Cars.

Swimming With The Fishes

 

  We had a fun time visiting the Aquarium and got a few fun pictures of the kids and their cousins swimming with a turtle, with a shark, and out to a sunken ship.

Make-believe is our specialty!

Show Me Your Love

This year Valentine's Day fell on a Saturday, which also happens to be our house-cleaning day.  The kids were not particularly excited about the prospect of chores, and to be honest, neither was I.  To get us moving I decided to set a time limit of 90 minutes . . . and then we could play the rest of the day!

My cute Spencer got right to work on his dusting job, his bathroom job, and vacuuming his bedroom, and because he has weekly practice, he finished rather quickly.  Next thing I knew, he was working along-side me, asking, "What can I do next?"  He continued to do that until all my tasks were completed.

Spencer has a very understanding heart and has always been good at showing me his love.  Hope you had a great Valentine's Day, too!   

Sweetest Valentine

This is the Valentine I received from my little girl just before the big LOVE Day.  She was so excited for me to see this Valentine that she had left on my pillow, but I was in the middle of making dinner.  She anxiously asked a few times, "Will you go see what is on your pillow?"  until I had a chance to find her precious message of love.  What a sweet sentiment from my little sweetheart.

In case Kate's message is unclear to you, it reads:

To:  Mom.

I Love you.  I Love you because you make dinner.I can't say all the things, but I Love a lot.  All my Love on you.

From your Kate! 

Nate the Great

Nathan, my preschooler, was part of a sweet "Singing Valentine" program at a retirement center the other day.  At the end of the musical part, the children wandered the room to give valentine gifts to the older members of the audience.

On the way home we talked about how nice it is to show others that we care for them even when they are strangers.

My comment: "Even if we don't know them we still love and care for them because we know they are Children of God."

Nathan's response:   "Ummm, you mean Grown-Ups of God."

My response:   Smile.

How could you not love this face

. . . and the cute personality that comes with it?!

What Did You Do For Christmas?

 . . . A little kayaking in the ocean . . .

 . . . A little hiking in the the tropical forest . . .

 . . . A little horse-back riding . . .

 . . . A little walking on Waikiki Beach at sunset . . .

 . . . And a whole lot of wearing shorts and T-shirts and sandals . . . oh, and swimsuits!

It is a little sad to come home from Hawaii to so much snow.

With the reality of a snow-covered town, I am beginning to wonder if Hawaii was just a dream.

(Maybe I should just climb into bed and dream until the snow melts!  But that may not happen until June!!)

 

"Mongo" Snow Fort

The kids' latest snow creation.  They call it the "Mongo" Snow Fort.

As one can see, we have had a bit of snow so far this December.  At least the kids know how to enjoy it!

 

(I must admit, though, that Rich & I have been out to help the kids with their fort and it was actually really fun.)

Scrooge

Spencer had the great opportunity to be in the Third Grade Play of The Christmas Carol. He was given the part of Jacob Marley, the chain-dragging ghost who was Ebeneezer Scrooge's late business partner.

Spencer did an awesome job.  He especially liked clinking his chains and moaning "Scroooooooge!"

Piano Recital

Spencer & Kate just performed in a Holiday Piano Recital showcasing my students.  These are the pictures we used in the program.  Nathan didn't want to be left out of the picture-taking.  

Done 'Til June

We are officially done with our family birthdays until June.  Fall hits us hard with Birthdays in the middle of all the Fall Holidays, so it is always nice once they are all past.  Spencer & Kate had a good time at their parties and so . . . Mission Accomplished!!

Halloween Haunts

Here's a glimpse of our Halloween . . .

The Birthday

Well, it came and went like most other days, but there were a few things that made the day stand out.  I was invited out to lunch by my friend Jen and we enjoyed Soup, Salad, & Breadsticks (& a Birthday Treat & Song) at the Olive Garden.  Later that evening, we had our neighbors, Karen & Mackay, come over for some Birthday Pie that Rich brought home as a surprise.  But the biggest surprise was a gift from Rich~~he bought airline tickets, made condo reservations, and made arrangements for the kids so that he & I could take a TRIP TO HAWAII for our 10-Year Anniversary.  What a guy . . . and what a surprise!  Can't wait 'til December. 

I should also mention that a couple days before my Birthday I was able to celebrate with my family who were in town for the weekend.  My parents, my youngest sister Melissa, and my sister Becca's family made it a memorable birthday.  I might add that it is usually memorable whenever we get together~~My Wonderful Wacky Family!! 

Fall Fun

I just needed to add some pictures of some of the things that we have been doing this Fall.  And since they say that a picture is worth a million words, I will let the pictures do the talking . . .

Ready, Set, Go?

My St. George Marathon Experience:

On Saturday, October 4th my alarm sounded at 4:29 a.m. and I turned it off.  I laid in bed with the thought that I would get up in just a couple minutes.  Next thing I knew I was opening my eyes again and my alarm was broadcasting the time of 6:47 a.m.  Oh no!  The last bus to the starting line left at 5:30 a.m.!  Not only did I miss the bus, but now I realized that my Marathon race had already started . . . and I missed it!  Deep disappointment had just set in . . .

. . . And then I woke up for real!  My alarm clock glowed the time of 4:21 and I felt a great rush of relief.  It was a bad dream, and I still had my race ahead of me!

After catching an early bus and going for a LONG ride, the realities of my race set in:

An untimely fever (the day before), a persistent rain shower, and a constant headwind made up my first Marathon experience, not to mention that 26.2 miles is a LONG, LONG way to run.  It was tough and my final time was not what I had hoped . . . but I finished the biggest run of my life . . . so far.

Of course, on the one hand, just completing a race of that distance is an accomplishment, but I had hoped that my training had made a reachable goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon.  I was off my goal by over 20 minutes, but I'd like to think that my Friday fever and lousy Saturday weather had much to do with that.

I guess my next Marathon will tell just how much!  But that is a goal for a time in the future!

This picture was taken at the 25 mile mark and I was completely drenched . . . but I was almost to the Finish Line, where I would receive a "Marathon Finisher" medallion and the best ice cream sandwich I'd ever tasted!

Besides my own family, I should also mention that my parents and my youngest sister were there near the Finish to cheer me on.   My Dad's brilliant comment about Marathons after I finished running was, "Marathons really are not much of a spectator sport."  And you know, I would have to agree with him . . . but I appreciated their support in being there all the same.  

Huge Hands~~Funny Feet!

Well . . . that Nathan.  What a Weirdo!

We get plenty of laughs out of this one.  His personality is too big for his little body.

It would be very hard (perhaps impossible) to not adore this little person.

Love you Nathan!

Sigfried & Roy's Secret Garden~~Las Vegas

As a last "Hurrah" before our Summer Break ended and school started, the kids & I made a trip down to Las Vegas to visit Grams & Papa (& Emily's family).  Breaking out of our norm, we went down to "The Strip" and took the kids to Sigfried & Roy's Secret Garden at the Mirage.  It was a beautiful oasis in the middle of an insane city.  

Spencer, the Tiger Cub, is ready to move into the cages with the other Tigers.

Nathan & Grams with one of the captivating White Tigers.

The only animals that we were able to touch were made of stone.

The Dolphin Habitat was no Sea World, but it held the kids attention all the same.

We had a special treat at The Secret Garden~~Roy came to visit!  A few years back, while we were still living in Las Vegas, Roy had a tragic incident as one of his tigers decided to munch on him during a performance.   Though he is no longer the showman he once was, it was still fun to see him come to spend time with his tiger cubs.

A funny story:  As Roy was entering the cage he was wearing dark sunglasses and was practically being held up by people on both sides.  It was a slow process.

There was a lady behind me who said, "Oh, look!   That's nice.  They are letting the blind people go into the cages with the tigers."

Immediately, she realized her blunder and declared, "Oh!  That's Roy!  I can't believe I just said that out loud."

She was embarrassed, but we got a good chuckle.