A little head cold...

Poor Alec started with a slight fever on Wednesday, then added a runny nose by Thursday.

Yet, somehow being sick doesn't seem to slow him down.

Now that he's passed it on to me, I'm not certain how to keep up:

Reception Pictures

Sabrena and I had a good time all week preparing fondant and baking! My cousin Nikki was out from Utah, so we enlisted her aid in making the flowers, running errands and putting it all together on Saturday.

Kari was very happy with the cake, so it was all worth it:

Here's a photo with my siblings and some cousins:

Temple Pictures

Kari and Ben were sealed in the LA Temple on August 15, 2008 for time and all eternity.

Afterwards, we had to wander around and do loads of photos, before heading to the luncheon at the restaurant down the street. Kari decided on a Chinese theme, since Ben's father is Chinese. So, she asked me to dress Alec in his pajamas from Paul's Chinese cousins-she originally mentioned him being a 'Buddha' because of his belly...so I casually mentioned a sheet cake from the local grocery store being a lot easier than a 10 layer cake and the matter was dropped. He did look awfully cute:

Here he is learning to make a 'pop!' sound with a rose petal and my cousin Chad:

On the steps of the LA Temple:

Sad News on the Move...

Well, unfortunately, Paul's research is taking longer than planned. Primarily because his advisor's wife got pneumonia and Trevor is a good husband, so stayed home to help out. Unfortunately, Paul thought his model was wrong and spent the time trying to fix that, only to have Trevor return and point out the data was wrong...a whole month...wasted...long story short, we can't afford to move yet and since I accepted 3 classes at the college this fall we will be stuck here at least until December. On the bright side, we still have loads of free babysitters and with me able to work, Paul will have more study time.

I lost the battery charger for our camera, and it's completely dead, so I can't download any wedding pics yet.

On a good note, my cousin Sawyer got his mission call-MONTANA, BILLINGS!! We're so excited for him!!

Some more pictures...

There are a lot of good things happening out here right now!

Most importantly, my sister, Kari, is getting married on Friday in the LA Temple! She has always dreamt of a 10-layer cake and so I've been making loads of fondant and buttercream icing, which takes up all my free time.

Apart from that I'm working on: 1. packing organization (I threw out 4 boxes of 'stuff' on Saturday!), 2. moving van plans (can we trust someone to drive our 'stuff' to Colorado safely or drive our own things and our car?), 3. insanely missing Paul (video chatting twice a day just isn't enough. He may have to finish writing here and go back again for a few days to defend it much later), 4. caring for Alec (not that this is bad, but he is a VERY active & curious little boy), 5. the dogs (my family has left for California to go to a Dodgers game and California Adventure before the wedding, leaving me in charge of 7 dogs), and 6. refugee work (gathering donations & home visits). I do prefer to stay busy, so I would definitely choose all the commotion over sitting around and missing Paul.

In the meantime, here are some cute shots:

Here he is wearing grandpa's sunglasses:

Last Sunday we went to celebrate my Uncle's birthday and Alec (as usual) wanted to go out back and play with the 3 boxers they have. The dogs were very loving. If Paul would let me have a third dog I would steal Tank, their male boxer. He's so great with Alec and stands over to 'protect' him from the other dogs...who also want a turn licking Alec...

Here's Alec playing with his Uncle Christopher. My brother just adores Alec and Alec loves it when he comes over, because he'll play with him! Here he is carrying him around in nana and grandpa's 'garment hamper', then racing about in his car:

Here he is playing 'prison guard'. For some reason Alec thinks this is hilarious:

Uncle Kevie also loves playing with him and lately they've been practicing on recorders.


This past Friday night was Kari's bachelorette party. We went to Joleen's home (our sister-in-law) to watch a movie and eat pizza. Alec really liked the pizza idea:

Alec making new friends...

Last Friday night we went back to visit the Yasser family and I brought Alec with me. He was (of course) quite popular and really got on well with the youngest son, Baker, who loved playing with him, and loved that Alec would go running to him when he held his arms out.

Ayser, the mother, made dolma for dinner. I hadn't had any since I was studying in Egypt, so I was very excited. Alec loved it and was calling out 'yum, yum' between bites. She took the time to explain the recipe to me, so I may try it out soon.

Ayser also enjoyed swinging Alec around...and he was laughing aloud.

Larry brought over a guitar for the older boys and he and Omer were enjoying trying to learn some chords. Alec decided to join in the fun as well...

Once again it was a fun evening and everyone was so great about Alec roaming around! We look forward to visiting again.