Merry Christmas 2008

From our home to yours

Jake, Wayne, Amie, Brittany (L-R, back row)
Allie, Charli, Ben (L-R, front row)

Cumming, Georgia

December 24, 2008

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Charli posing

A BLAST FROM THE PAST, PART II

This is a family photo from the summer of 2001. Britt is 15, Jake 10, Allie 3 and Ben is 1.

Amie is drop dead gorgeous and I was the subject of many "What is someone like her doing with a guy like that?" looks.

Hmmmm. Still get the same looks.

A BLAST FROM THE PAST

Here is our family photo in the summer of 1999. Britt was 13, Jake 8 and Allie 1.

I was thinner and had more hair.

Only Amie looks the same: ok, she had more hair too!

13 Years!

Happy Anniversay Sweetheart!

We didn't get to go to prom together in high school, but here we are going to "Mormon Prom" this spring. It's wierd when it's your daughter taking your picture, not you parents! We had a great time and still love to dance. In fact they played some disco for Wayne and 80's for me.

There is no one I would rather spend the next 13 years with.

I love you Wayne....

WE MISS MOOK!!!

Allie has been in Las Vegas for a week and we have all missed her terribly, but tonight I get to go to the airport and pick her up! Charli has slept in Ben's room because she misses her; Amie has sludged around her "free" days without a homeschooler in the house and Ben flat out has said that he misses Al more than he has ever missed anything.

You get the picture. Allie, meanwhile, has loved being at nana and Grandads, sewing with Nana, catching up with Bean, Schmeagan and the Kuhar gang, reuniting with Jeanine, Julia and Jenna and all the folks from the Sunset Ward.

Anyway, she'll be back in the fold tonight and I'll sleep better. Missed you, Mook.

The Head Shot

My employer asked me to provide them with a head shot to use for corporate events and so our good friend Tami shot a few and this is the one I choose. All of a sudden I think I look my age...I mean that's the face of a man with 5 Children ages 6 -22. Yikes, when did that happen? Not the children thing-that I remember. Just the aging thing. My 30th reunion is in 7 months and just like that I feel like I'm almost 48.

YAY!!

A surprise visit from dear friends is a perfect segueway from Thanksgiving to Christmas...

Peter and Noelle Smith

and their beautiful brood:

Max, Anna Claire, Simon, Zoe and Hazel popped in for some crepes and hugs...

wonderfully perfect...we miss them...

The Three Amigas

Three brown eyed girlfriends eating Thanksgiving dinner at Bart and Joanne Mills' home yesterday:

Libby Petersen, Allie Fagg and Lexi Sant

A Day at the Museum

Yesterday, Amie and Allie went downtown and visited the High Museum of Art

While there, they were treated to a preview of the 8th Wonder of the Ancient World: the First Emperor's terracotta army.

The Season is Over...for Allie

Allie's team, The Spirit, closed out their fall season yesterday with a 7-1 win. Allie scored a goal and played her customary stellar defense.

(Photo by Holly Loveland)

Living a life the rest of us would die for...

Jake's summer:
Two week trip to Italy and Greece
EFY: BYU-Idaho
EFY: BYU-Hawaii
EFY: BYU-Provo

Sounds like an EFY overdose....

Happy haunting...have you ever been told that your face resembled a pumpkins? I guess I need some help. This is Ben's carving...he and the kids think it looks like their Dad...what do you think?

Halloween Spook-mobile fun
with The Ridings in Vickery

Family Photos

Autumn Days at Hilton Head

Allie and cousin Natalie at the beach on Hilton Head Island getting ready to dig their "moat"...

Nana and Granddad soaking up the rays

while

Ben takes a breather from the waves to stroll the beach looking for crabs

Celebrating 40th in Hilton Head

To celebrate turning 40 this year, my elementary school friends and their moms, met in Hilton Head, SC at a beach house.

We went kayaking with dolphins, ate at Paula Dean's restaurant in Savannah, chatted and laughed until the wee hours. It was great reconnecting.

Rhonda Goulding Wegner, Stacey Oto Keever, Annie Rooker Ellie, Amie Fagg

Annie, Sue, Rhonda, Sandy, Stacey, Leanne

First Day of School

 

4th of July

On the 4th of July, we invited a few people over to the house for some potluck food and fireworks. We actually had about 80 people come by-our friends supplied a few bouncing houses and we set up a badminton court on the back lawn and cleared cars away from the outdoor basketball hoop and fired up the grill!

Even more impressive was the fact that no one was seriously injured by either the fireworks or subsequent lightning storm.

Family

They say you can't choose your family-but, if I had to, I would.

Ben's Baptism

Ben was baptized by his older brother, Jake (who also doubles as Ben's idol) and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by his Dad, Wayne.

Right after being baptized, while still in the font of water, Ben looked up at Jake and said, "This is the happiest day of my life."

Few things have ever made me happier.

Reunited, and it feels so good...

Throughout the years, many people have heard the legend of the two assistants to the president in the Peru Arequipa Mission--companions at that--with the last names of Hooker and Fagg.

On Friday, April 4, 2008, 26 years after their missions ended, Cesar Hooker and Wayne Fagg were reunited at the reunion of the aforementioned mission held at the Wilkinson Center on the campus of Brigham Young University.

The stories were true! They do exist! Today, Cesar Hooker is once again Elder Cesar Hooker, Second Counselor of the South America West Area Presidency and a member of the Fourth Quorum of Seventies. Wayne Fagg is the Young Men's President of the Alpharetta Ward, Roswell Georgia Stake.

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Our house in the middle of the street

It's not unusual for us to pop in a CD when we head out on a road trip. Our children have been exposed (subjected, some might say) to "good" music from the 60's, 70's and 80's. The 90's just haven't been gone that long to qualify. One of our favorite tunes is Madness' Our House. These lyrics aptly sum up life around our homestead:

Our house it has a crowd
Theres always something happening
And its usually quite loud
Our mum shes so house-proud
Nothing ever slows her down
And a mess is not allowed

Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our ...

So, we decide that just living our life wasn't enough:we actually need to share it with you. So, if you're willing and able, drop by, drop in, pull up a chair and visit with us for awhile. Because, afterall, you're always welcome here.

peace.