Christmas 2011

First let me apologize that there are no pictures to go along with this post. That said, it was a wonderful, relaxing Christmas at our house this year. A bit lacking without Heather and Clint here but we did get to Skype with them!

Steve and I didn't do much for each other this year- we mostly concentrated on Getting everything Austin needs for his mission. Probably not the funnest Christmas for Austin since almost everything he opened was for his mission but he was a good sport about it and even acted like getting sheets for Christmas was awesome!

We opened presents, then went to a wonderful sacrament meeting full of music. There was such a powerful spirit there. What a wonderful way to begin Christmas Day!

Kyle, Han and Jane came around noon and we opened more presents while Skyping with Heather and Clint.

Steve's parents and brother joined us for Christmas dinner.

Jane loved playing with her new toys- she kept us all pretty entertained. What a cutie she is!

The best part of any Holiday is being able to celebrate it with family!

And now, life is about to change greatly for us as Austin leaves in 3 weeks for his mission!

UP House!

So, you know the movie "UP". Well Bangerter Homes actually built a replica of the house from the movie. It is located in Herriman and you can walk through it and take pictures every day from 12-5 thru December.The house is amazing and is as identical as they could get it including some of the inside.
Even the mailbox!
The chairs were custom made to match as close as possible the ones in the movie- notice the walker and below the fireplace mantle complete with accessories.
Gotta love this kitchen!
Two of the bedrooms were "make a wish" rooms. One a Toy Story theme- complete with all the characters from the movie,
and the other one was a princess room.
Loved these flowers on the nursery wall!

The master bedroom- also very cute...
my favorite thing about this house was this-
Austin's favorite room was the theater room - didn't get a picture sorry and the hidden room (there was a hidden playroom behind bookcases in the upstairs hallway). The house has been sold and the family will be moving in the beginning of next year. So fun to be able to walk through it. It's free to the public!

Baby's 1st Birthday!

We celebrated Jane's 1st Birthday on Thanksgiving Day while all the family was at our house. She wasn't quite sure what to think of everyone staring at her and of all the presents. This one was a singing cookie jar with shapes that you put in it. I heard the song so much the next day that I quickly memorized it and found myself singing along with it each time it went off.To the tune of London Bridge sing along with me- "Shapes are in my cookie jar, Triangle, heart and star. There's a circle over there, here's a square!" Jane loved her cookie jar and carried it around everywhere the next day!
She also loves books and got a couple that got her attention.
Her first cupcake to eat all by herself. She was very dainty with it at first, just using her finger to get the frosting.
Eventually she dug in a little more but still didn't do too bad.
Time for a bath! Happy birthday to my little baby Jane- growing so fast!

Thanksgiving Fun, Family and Food!

My sister Kristin and her family came to stay with us for Thanksgiving. Since they were here we had the rest of my sisters who live in Utah and their families join us for Thanksgiving dinner, along with Steve's parents and his brother Brent. 30 of us in all. This is when I love having the layout that we have in our home. Plenty of room for everyone!The younger kids table - complete with silly faces!
Nothing but serious eaters at this table...
I love little Stephen's face in this picture.
And Holly's in this one. Yep they are Mother and Son! Everyone stuffed themselves on yummy food! So fun to have all of us together and especially to have company for a few days.

Happy Birthday Meghan!

Colorful and beautiful flowers in memory of a colorful and beautiful girl!Happy Birthday Meghan! Love you and miss you!

Kyle and Han Family pics Part1

Kyle and Han had family pictures taken this week.

These are some of my favorite family pictures! What a cute family!

Kyle and Han family pics Part 2

What a little doll! Here are some of my favorites of Jane.

He's Going Where?

As we got Austin's mission papers ready and sent in, everyone was speculating on where they thought he would be going to serve his mission. Right from the beginning my guess was Hong Kong China. There were a few times that I wanted to change my guess but as I thought of where I still came back to Hong Kong every time. Well, the call came yesterday in the mail.Austin patiently waited all day for the appointed opening time- 7:00pm with family and friends that he wanted to invite ( Jason would hate that shot of him in the background).
We're ready!!!! Even Heather and Clint joined us on Skype...
"Dear Elder Passey- You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the China Hong Kong Mission."
Everyone cheered so loud that Jane was frightened and started crying. He will be speaking Cantonese and entering the MTC (Mission Training Center) on January 18th! We are so excited for him and this great opportunity he has to aide in taking the gospel to the people of China. I am still in shock that my guess was actually right!

Someone loves her Grandma!

For Kyle's birthday , Han arranged for some friends to all go picnicking together and they came to the house after for dessert and some game playing. Steve and I took Jane outside and played with her while they played inside. She thought it was hilarious every time I put my hands in the air and said "HI". Steve took this picture of her laughing at her Grandma.What a cutie! She is a bundle of fun!

Something to write about!

Heather has been visiting for the last week and a half (the 6th - 16th) and we loved having her here!!!! It was so fun to have her home and to spend time with her. I didn't get a whole lot of pictures taken but she did so you will have to see her blog. She was able to visit with quite a few of her friends while here and we filled the rest of her time with shopping, playing games, visiting with family, eating (Red Mango, Sweet Tooth Fairy, Zuppas!!) at places Iowa doesn't have, swimming at the pool, more game playing and just plain hanging together.

On Thursday we met up with my sister Holly and her daughter Rachel at Thanksgiving Point. We went to see the movie "17 Miracles" which we all highly recommend to everyone. Be sure to bring kleenex though! We ate dinner after and enjoyed visiting and catching up. Not a good hair day for me...I had just gotten it cut. Everyone else looks cute though.

Heather and I sporting our new necklaces from a Paparazzi jewelry party we went to which she won the drawing at...WooWoo! On the way home from our visit with Holly and Rachel, we met up with Jen, a good friend of Heather's and enjoyed catching up and eating Red Mango together.

The time went by so fast and I started missing her as soon as we dropped her off at the airport but hopefully it won't be too long before we can visit again. Maybe this time Steve and I can make it to Iowa! Loved hangin' with (next to Steve) my best friend!!

Janne's 1st Pool Day

Kyle came early on Monday and we took Jane to the pool before he had to go to work. I bought this little bumble bee tube for Jane to play in at the pool. She was more interested in leaning forward and sucking on the bee's antenna.Her legs were constantly kicking though and she seemed to love being in the water...
Drying off... love these two pictures!

What a cutie!!

Jane is almost crawling. I tried to catch her on video doing her army crawl but wasn't very successful...still it's a cute video! Enjoy!

Morp- best picture ever!

Hilarious MORP picture from Austin and his date Kenzie. I laughed so hard!

Graduation thoughts...

My baby is graduating from high school this week...Graduation is nothing new to me as I have had three others graduate before Austin but this time it is a much more emotional occurrence. I find that everything I do with Austin is that way, because he is the last. For the past 22 years my life has centered around school, PTA, homework, school projects, soccer, dance, piano, basketball, track, cross country, swimming etc. All of that comes to an end on Thursday and before I know it, Austin will be gone on his mission. Besides Steve, my children have been everything to me and letting the last one go is harder than I thought but let him go I will as he soars onward and upward, just as the others have done while we who are left below wonder what to do with this empty nest. We may be sad for a time, but don't worry, we'll think of something to do ;) (wink, wink)!

Remembering Meghan...

It has been 6 years tomorrow since we said good bye (for now) to our daughter, Meghan. I am grateful for the knowledge I have that we will be reunited with her someday and look forward to that joyous reunion. In the meantime I am so grateful that Heavenly Father allows her to peek back in on us from time to time and even step in and help occasionally. Love you and miss you as always Meghan!

Austin- Senior pictures

Ryan Thompson ( RLT Photography) came to our house on Monday and took Austin's senior pictures. We decided to do them at our home and I am glad we did. They turned out great and it was hard to pick a few to highlight but here are a few of my favorites...Austin loves his retro sunglasses and I think he is quite handsome in them. Ryan got some awesome shots with them!
Love this orange shirt. Not everyone can wear orange!
The rocks on the porch made for a great backdrop.
Ryan took some shots of Austin in the middle of the road. Who would have thought?

This is Austin's swim hoodie - it says Passey Man on the back in case you can't quite read it.
A swim captain needs a senior picture that represents him and this is it! I love the water drops, too!

Yeah, He cleans up nicely!
Ryan took some missionary photos - just so we will have them when the time comes ( not too far away now!)
I babysit Jane on Mondays and who could resist snapping a few shots of this doll? Not Ryan!

Awesome pictures! If you want to see more go here- http://rltphotography.smugmug.com/SeniorSchool-kids/Austin-Passey/16790651_zjKb8n#1266769864_kV4M3bJ .