Halloween 2008

The yellow "pumpkin" was the only pumpkin that actually grew in our garden, even with two giant pumpkin plants! We were finally forced to pick it green once the garden froze, and it eventually turned yellow.

Sweet little Rachel was our ladybug. I didn't get around to making antennae.

Elizabeth wore her ballet costume from dance.

Emma, forever dressing up, looked natural as Snow White. She also had a red cape.

Matthew wearing his $2 Lego costume. We used leftover Pinewood Derby car spray paint, a Costco diaper box, deli salad tubs (the only cost), and lost of duct tape. Actually, this was really Brent's masterpiece. He has quite the knack for creative projects like this.

Matthew's Baptism (finally)

OK, so I realize I'm slipping further and further behind in my blog posts. But I still thought this would be great to share, especially with those of you who couldn't attend Matthew's baptism. It was the perfect day (other than my being deathly ill with bronchitis and pleurisy). Both sets of grandparents were there-- G&G Aaron came all the way from California-- as well as lots of other family and friends. Thanks to those of you who made the effort to come support Matthew on his special day! Grandpa Wilson gave a talk on baptism, and Grandma Aaron spoke on the Holy Ghost. All the Primary-age cousins sang a special musical number with Matthew-- "If the Savior Stood Beside Me". I first heard this song about 15 years ago (I don't remember where), and it was one of those songs that touched me so deeply that it never completely left me. Then I found it again about 6 years ago, and was delighted when it was selected as one of the songs for the 2008 Primary theme. I knew this was the perfect song to be sung at Matthew's baptism. As a bonus, the kids already knew it from singing it in Primary! It was absolutely amazing to listen to. You had to be there!

Afterwards, we had a brunch at our house with everyone, which was great. Later that afternoon, we went bowling and for dinner at Brick Oven. I am so pleased with Matthew and how his faith and testimony have grown.

Rachel turns 1

Well, actually Rachel is now 14 months, but better late then never. She was too cute on her birthday to not share the photos with everyone. Her cake is supposed to be a beehive, with bumblebee cupcakes.

All the Wilson cousins were able to be there-- amazing!

Rachel was a little timid about "diving in" to the piece of cake we gave her. The damage wasn't too bad, but she still got to get a bath afterwards.

Pinewood Derby

Matthew: I turned 8 years old, and was in the Pinewood Derby. I got a third place trophy with my green Wasp car I made. I've only got three more tracks to fill in before I get my bobcat badge. After that, I can work on my Wolf. I LOVE SCOUTS!

Matthew's 8th Birthday

Matthew is finally eight years old! In his own words: "It was one of the best birthdays ever!"
Matthew received new scriptures for this special birthday from G&G Wilson.
Here is Matthew with his presents from Mom and Dad: Mars Mission Legos and the board game "Settlers of Zarahemla".

Halloween Party

Brent and I went to a couples Halloween Party Friday night. We hadn't dressed up in costumes for years! Brent was "evening vampire" and I was "rockin' polka dot girl". At least that's what the costumes were called on the packages. It was so much fun.

Tenth Anniversary Cruise

Our tenth anniversary was actually in April, but we decided to wait until Rachel was a little older before getting away on a special trip. I am so glad we did it. It was incredible! We left from Seattle (Monday), then went up to Nanaimo, British Columbia, back down to Victoria, BC, then out into the ocean west of Vancouver Island, then back to Seattle (Friday). Here is a picture of Brent standing in front of our ship, the Celebrity Mercury. It was huge! Unfortunately, our room ended up being right near the front of the ship, where we felt the motion the most. This was actually fine most days because we were in sheltered straits and sounds. Exception: Thursday, when the captain decided to make a detour into the ocean west of Vancouver Island. This was done to keep the casino-lovers happy since gambling is only legal five miles away from land. We weren't expecting this, and both of us suffered some motion sickness. Otherwise, the trip was absolutely perfect. Here are some highlights.

With the local authorities in Nanaimo
Brent checking out some historical weapons at the Bastion (an old fort)
There sure seemed to be plenty of totem poles in British Columbia! This one was on Newcastle Island, which we took a ferry to from Nanaimo.
Newcastle Island was a beautiful place for hiking. We walked to Mallard Lake (in the background above), then across to this beautiful beach where we saw animal footprints in the sand and some interesting jellyfish.

Lion's Mane Jellyfish washed up on the beach at Newcastle island.

The local flora included lots of beautiful trees, moss, ferns, and oh, yeah-- these giant slugs that liked to cross the trail. Luckily we never stepped on any!

Formal night! It was so much fun getting dressed up for dinner each night and not having to worry about hurrying home to a babysitter!

Check out our "spacious" quarters-- they even included a porthole! The room was tiny, but cozy.

Victoria was our favorite port. Here we are standing in front of the provincial capitol building of British Columbia. It was built over 100 years ago.
We met another couple on our cruise (thanks to Brent's BYU hat) who are from Lehi. We ended up spending most of our days with them, which made it really fun. Here are Sarah and Tanya in front of the Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria, another beautiful old building.

Butchart Gardens

We took a bus to Butchart Gardens about 30 minutes outside Victoria. These photos don't really do them justice-- they are gorgeous! Even though it rained nearly the whole time we were there, these gardens were definitely worth the trip. We were so inspired, in fact, we bought several flower seed packets from the gift shop instead of souvenirs. We'll plant those next spring and see if we can recreate some of the beauty we saw there (hey, we can dream, right? These gardens were planted at the former site of a rock quarry for a cement plant!).