Cooking in the kitchen for the first time after coming back from India...o bliss. And pizza.
Yum!
Nicole's preferred birthday activity: a family whipping cream fight. What a cheater - she was secretly packing two cans!
My family decided to refloor the house before Nick's wedding reception in October. Let me tell you, laying slate and grouting isn't as fun as it looks. And it doesn't even look very fun.
Mom's hands feeling tired.
Along with redoing the floors we thought we'd tackle the walls! Nicole loves painting ceilings, right Nicole? Mom and Dad never would have taken it all on if Nicole and I hadn't talked them into it...
But it was all worth it because Nick and Jessica were married!
The bride and bridesmaids had a pampering party the night before. This was foreign to Nicole and I, who hadn't painted our toenails in at least a year. We survived.
Nicole, Michelle, Nick, and I after the reception in Wenatchee. We're sad that we have to give him up, but we like Jess just as much as him, so it's okay.
Michelle and I at the reception in Arizona. She looks pretty, and I look like the flowers are good enough to eat.
After the wedding we took advantage of the Arizona heat and went boating at Saguro Lake with my aunt and uncle's family. Please ignore the Indian tan line.
Visiting the Reed family in Queen Creek. I served six months of my mission there, and Brother Reed passed on what he taught to me to my family...
Now we can all milk a jersey cow!
Feeling tired of being outdone by my younger sister's lavish pumpkin carving every year, I decided to take matters into my own hands...
Hello Calvin. Next year Hobbs needs to join in.
Nicole and I dressed up for Halloween in clothes I brought back from India. We were dressed up without a place to go, so we went to a Vietnamese restaurant with our friend Abel. They thought we were trying to be Vietnamese and laughed, but we knew better.
Dad with his mighty nail gun, finishing the roof of his man cave. Dad loves his shop and enjoys building it more than having a finished product. Kind of like playing with Legos...
Autumn in the orchard behind my home!
Wenatchee is even more beautiful in the fall than I remember. I like taken fallen apples and feeding them to the neighbors' horses. Hopefully the neighbors don't mind.
And what is autumn without a giant pile of....
LEAVES!
Nicole is decidedly more photogenic than me. Who else can create a face like that?
Me, Nicole, Dad, Michelle, Grandma Critchell, and Mom after Michelle's performance in Fiddler on the Roof; She was marvelous!
To release some pre-mission and grad school application stress, Nicole came up with an idea...
I prepared for the worst.
It turned out to be incredibly satisfying! Abel is knocking my rotten calvin-o-lantern to smithereens with his (old) nine iron. We went up Halverson Canyon so we could watch bits of guck fly out over the scenic view.
We were covered in rotten pear, pumpkin, apple, and green pepper guts by the end, but we look good, anyway.
At Uncle Bob and Aunt Sheila's house in Rigby, ID for Thanksgiving dinner with Samantha, Melinda, and Amanda.
Melinda and I played hide and go seek, but Melinda kept being distracted by the swings and pretending I couldn't see her.
My cousin Shawn and I cooked up some vegetable korma and chicken curry to feed the extended Bird family crew. Everyone even ate with their hands! (No left hands, of course.)
Me, Jessica, and Nick enjoying the food.
A family tradition. Last Christmas all of the kids tried sleeping on Mike's bed on Christmas Eve. It didn't really work, but we thought before we left Idaho that we should try one more time.
My cousin Greg plays football for the University of Utah, my alma mater's eternal enemy. This creates divided loyalties in the family, but we forgive him during reunions. Nicole clearly feels torn.
The Rexburg Temple
Idaho may smell like cows, but it has beautiful sunsets!
