My New Gig

I got called to be 1st counselor in the Young Women's presidency a few weeks ago. I was very humbled and nervous to be working with teenage girls. I remember being a Mia Maid myself (14 & 15 years old). That was a difficult and important time in my life, and my Young Women leaders played a pivotal role in helping get through those difficult years. I now realize the sacred and important responsibility I have of teaching and helping these girls remember who they are and where they are going. Wow! The fun and easy part of this calling is that these girls are AMAZING! They are cute and fun and supportive of each other and of me and we have fun a laugh a lot. Their testimonies are strong and they are trying to live the gospel every day. I get to work with my next door neighbor Wendy (she's my advisor) and we make a pretty good team if I do say so myself. This calling is a far cry from Primary chorister which is what I was before (and I LOVED it!) but I am trying my best to do what I can for these cute girls. I think about the fact that someday soon my own 2 daughters will be this age and I know I will be depending on their leaders to help them and guide them along. That makes me want to try even harder!

Love 'em!

Awww...sisters!

As I was looking through my pictures, I was definitely struck by all the ones that looked like these:Rachel & Hannah after making their fairy hat crafts!

The girls having fun together in the water!

At their cousin Sam's wedding open house

Being silly!

Their many, many arts and crafts!

Reading together in bed

I feel so lucky to have 2 cute little girls who genuinely love each other. We thought Hannah was our last baby and that she would only have brothers, so imagine our surprise when we found out not only were we having another baby, but a baby SISTER! They are so close now and I hope they will always will be.

Cute little punkins!

So Halloween went off without a hitch this year at the Seeley house
(well, other than the rain!)

Our little PUNKINS included:

Rachel the ladybug,

Hannah as Mulan,

Jason the clown,


Adam the hippie,

And a very menacing-looking Miles Austin of the Dallas Cowboys!

And last, but not least...

Thank you, Cade.

Happy Halloween!

We had a super fun Halloween weekend! It started on Friday night with some friends from the 'hood! It was hosted by the very distinguished and sophisticated looking Keri & Spencer (Spence, all I can say is "wow"). Their house was all decked out for the occasion and the only party I've ever been to where all the lights were off the ENTIRE night. They really were - this is just my camera's flash!
Guests of the party included a couple of Chilean miner's. Nice 'staches!
We had a witch and her vampire lover!
We were entertained by the cool jock and his knocked-up girlfriend!
Now, I'm not sure where these two met or how they ever hooked up, but they can dance a mean cha-cha!
We were wowed by the magnificent "Malificent" and her royal husband, King "What's-His-Name"!
We had to do a double-take when we saw these BYU fans. Then we realized it was Harvey Unga (Thanks, Em!)and his pregnant girlfriend. Touche!
Sully and Boo were able to sneak away from Monsters Incorporated for a little while to get jiggy!
Let's not forget Dwight and Angela from Dunder Mifflin. Angela's a little irked that she was not on the party-planning committee, I think!
Great times were had by all. We had a fabulous mexican buffet, a dance party complete with awesome music and strobe lights, and a couple rounds of Mafia. And I thought my college days were over!

Thanks for the fun everyone! Same time next year??

Should I be concerned?

This is what Rachel did today during her "naptime". No, she didn't color, if that's what your thinking. Yes, she unwrapped crayons for two hours in her bed. And this isn't the first time. She's been at it for weeks. When she sees a crayon, she just feels the need to peel off its wrapper. And she'll sneak handfuls of crayons to "work on" in her bed. Granted, I have kids who do weird things. Take Adam for example. He writes notes to himself to remind him of stuff he needs to do. Last week it was this:

"Adam, bring school lunch
here's some milk money
use it wisely"

Okay...so that's more cute than weird.

I tell you, the crayon thing is becoming more annoying than weird because guess who's vacuum has more crayon peels than dust bunnies? That's right.

It's time to play catch-up, baby!

(This is what spring/summer/fall looks like at our house!)

So, yeah, it's been a little while! Today is a dark , dismal day - perfect day to blog I figured. I thought I'd just go down the line about what everyone has been up to over the last...say...10 months or so. Lame, I know, but I'm too lazy to figure out a more creative way to summarize so here goes!
Tyler:
- finished 5th grade, now in 6th
- broke his arm on the front porch steps
- played a total of 2 soccer games this fall due to said injury
- discovered a love of football - Go Cowboys!
- got braces
- turned twelve this weekend and became a deacon yesterday - sniff, sniff!
- growing like a weed (he's already outgrown his new school clothes!)
Adam:
- finished 4th grade, now in 5th
- is getting better about missing assignments...finally!
- played soccer awesomely
- joined the school choir with best friend Parker
- has lots of friends, but Parker is tops
- the goofiest, most lovable child ever!
Jason:
- finished 2nd grade, now in 3rd
- loves school
- turned 8, got baptized
- started cub scouts
- loves football...and any other activity that requires a ball
- played soccer, scored several goals!
- best friend: Mason

Hannah:
- finished preschool, now in p.m. Kindergarten, loves school - "Mrs. Larson is sooooo funny!"
- played soccer this fall, surprised us with her energy and competitiveness
- in a singing/dancing academy - loves it of course!
- is the most social child...ever
- still 100% girl
Rachel:
- started Joyschool with a few friends in the neighborhood
- started dance class this Fall on "Threes-day!"
- potty-trained! No more diapers for the Seeleys (after 12 long years!)
- hair has finally grown out (after 12 long months!)
- is delightful 99% of the time
Stacy:
- participated...and finished half-marathon (Hobble Creek) in August despite some...issues
- went on annual trip to San Diego with Arizona BFFs in September
- got released as Primary chorister and put in Young Women's Presidency (teenagers...YIKES!)
- redecorated rooms for 3 different friends (pictures coming!!)

Cade:
- works hard as always
- took boys to Kane County for Adam's 4th grade project
- took wife to Park City in April to celebrate 15 years of wedded bliss!
- BYU football started, not quite as enthusiastic as last year :( but always a fan
- plays basketball twice a week, proving he's not an "old guy"...yet!
- plays "Fantasy Football" with the 3 boys, whatever the heck that is

Well, I feel much better now! I know you've heard it all before, but I'm REALLY ready to start being consistent with this blog thing. I'll do it, I'll do it. For the children, I suppose. Have a great day!