Ah, young love.

Sarah is now Sarah Briggs!! Married to the fine Christian Briggs and what a beautiful day it was! Here is some proof:

Now I must confess.

I'm basically doing this post because I told my in-laws that I'd send pictures of our fun hats and the picnic we had and the wedding dress that my mom MADE TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE WEDDING. But I couldn't get the pictures through in a decent way in an email so I'm just directing them here. That is why this post will be less about the lovebirds and how lovely they were and more about the party planning. Sorry! I don't have time to be sentimental. I have to go to bed.

So.

Here's a shot of the back of the dress:

They had a reception that evening in Fresno. But we didn't make anything for that really. It was catered dessert at the Downtown Club which was a really fun location (I think our Christmas card picture will come from there). So on to the picnic the next day in Monterey!

The Bride and her new family:

Alternative guest sign in: Write your sentiments on a Jenga block!

(side note: See the lacey overlay on this table? That was the OLD wedding dress...We don't waste things in the Bennion house.)

They had His and Her lunchboxes. We put all the food together.

Favors. His favorite Sees candy (Almond bud) and Her favorite Sees candy (Milk Bordeaux).

Gentlemen were encouraged to wear a dapper hat.

All of the pennant banners were handmade using the scraps from the pillow material. They will be used for a quilt for Sarah and Christian.

Each blanket had a big pillow (handmade) with a love quote on the back, a bouquet of flowers, and a platter of fruit. I monogrammed the napkins for those with a "B."

Picnicing. We really felt like we were back in time--it was so beautiful and charming.

Jane, Audrey, and Porter helped Tanner put up the badminton net. Don't they look so cute in their little hats?

Do I dare admit that we played croquet with British accents?

This is from the luncheon the day before, but I think my face is pretty classic. Really good portrayal of my feelings. See if you can guess what happened (and happens about every 10 minutes with this girl):

Hehe. Messy Mollie.

Potty Trained!

I put on my facebook status awhile back that Audrey was well on her way to being potty trained and that it was going to be really easy. Well, even if she was going to be easy, I still had to put in more than an hour's worth of effort into the process, which I didn't end up feeling ready for until a couple weeks ago. I finally had a good few days to concentrate on her with no upcoming trips to make us regress, and voila! She was definitely potty trained in less than a day, like the fabulous book I used promised. I don't even have to remind her to go! It's amazing! There have been a few accidents, of course, but Audrey has got this under control. It probably helps that she's been known to keep her potty quite close....(Don't worry, it really was just this once that she had the seat on her head. We haven't let her continue this very sanitary fad.)

California Trip

While Adam was in Africa for 2 weeks, I decided the the girls and I needed to go somewhere too. We announced to my parents that we were coming for just over a week, ready or not! We got there just in time to "Get the Party Started!" (We had an average of 1 official party each day, so Jane got used to saying that.) Gammie had these awesome party hats that the girls loved wearing every day. Here is a sampling from the dozen she had:

Porter's birthday was the week before we got there, but my mom surprised us all with a party at Chuck E. Cheese's for him. We had a great time!

The next party was my for Austin's birthday. It was at this party that we caught Maddie and her cousin Logan being affectionate. Spin the baby bottle, anyone?

I didn't get any pictures of the Relief Society birthday party, the Tea party, the Park party, or the Monterey Bay Aquarium/bonfire party (that was a bonfire on the beach after the Aquarium visit; not a bonfire IN the Aquarium). But rest assured, all that partying was so fun. We LOVED every moment. Of course, Audrey had to recuperate with her daily lounge on the grass. She literally did this every day in the midst of all the kids running around. I don't know wear she learned to sunbathe! Usually she didn't lie on the sewer plate, but I think it added some warmth to her laying out that day. Ahhh, gotta love some California rays.

THANK YOU for letting us visit!!

We are still alive

Maybe some of you were wondering if we were still alive. We are. Here is a photo of the girls in February. (I have been really terrible about taking pictures so this is the most recent I have on this computer.) Everyone is growing up and constantly on the go.

I'm constantly on the go after these 3 and Adam. I'm taking ballet classes again about twice a week which is a shock to my body but makes me very happy.

Adam is constantly on the go with school, scouts and us. He just got back from 2 weeks in Africa consulting a small business there.

Jane is constantly impressing us with her sophisticated grasp on interpersonal relations.

Audrey is saying some "r" sounds!!

Madelynn loves being outside, we've discovered with the advent of spring, and would be happiest if we never had to go inside.

Hopefully I can start making more regular entries!

Pippi Longstocking, Ladybug Girl, Fancy Nancy

How obsessed do you think we are? Here are some clues:

• Audrey, whose previous longest word was probably "potty" was suddenly saying "pippilongstocking."
• I heard Jane talking to herself and the speech went, "I tell myself to go to bed. At first I say it quite nicely like 'Pippi, it's time for bed.' And if I don't listen I have to say it more firm. 'Pippi! Go to bed!' And if I still don't listen I give myself a spanking you see. So there." This is practically verbatim, for those of you who don't happen to know.
• We rented 4 Pippi movies (the Swedish versions with English dubbing) and watched the American one online. No telling how many viewings we have had in the past 3 weeks.
• There is constant playing of the Pippi game Don't Touch the Floor

I think it's fair to say we are fairly obsessed. It was a natural choice for Jane's costume this year.

Audrey wanted to be her as well, I think. But we grabbed some Fancy Nancy books and some Ladybug Girl books and she was satisfied that she was a lot like Ladybug Girls who, like Audrey, likes to feel the leaves falling on her head and likes to hang on things. When we are at the park,

Audrey loves to just hang at the top of the slides over and over; her feet tucked up to her rear. So I happily pointed out Ladybug Girl doing the same thing on a tree in the book.

Madelynn could care less about dressing up, but she made a cute Fancy Nancy. I have to admit I put very little effort into her costume, as is very apparent, but I think she'll agree with me someday that this was not an important year for her. She loved being at the ward party, though!

Halloween 2010

We are SO lucky to be near enough to the Mitchells still that we've already had 2 visits since moving down here. We went up to visit in September, and they came down for Halloween weekend. It is so great to see the cousins still bonding and knowing each other. After both visits, Jane has begged me to move back to Milwaukee. I attribute that to these guys.

Since it was Halloweeen weekend and they weren't getting here in time for our ward party, we had to plan one for ourselves.

We started by putting all our hands in a circle and broke with "Boo!" Team

spirit can apply to lots of things, right? Cupcake decorating was first on the list. Even Baby got some sugar.

The start of the sugar high

After doing Pippi hair 3 times, Jane and I decided to switch things up and be Cinderella. Doesn't my homemade ghost pinata look really good behind her? Yes, I'm asking for compliments.

We played "trick or treat" by pulling slips out of a hat and either getting a treat or doing a trick. Rubbing your belly and patting your head needs to be taught at a young age. Here are some awesome treats:

Even monsters can be cute

Freaky

The mummy roll. Jack was hilarious AND scary walking around like a mummy. I love the roll of paper in this picture.

After all the kids swatted at the ghost, we finally had a jedi who could do the job:

And now we are officially (especially me) in sugar comas.

Jane said: mommy, I know all about grown up boys and grown up girls.

Oh really?

Yeah. Girls sit down and boys stand up.

IU!

We are here in Bloomington! Adam is getting his MBA in Marketing at Indiana University, which is ranked very well overall but especially marketing--it's a great fit! It's also the school that two of his sisters and a brother-in-law went to, so there are some additional connections that make us feel very at-home here.

Adam loves loves loves school. He did a week of "jumpstart" classes, then 2 weeks of orientation, and is now in the middle of his 2nd week of classes. He is a happy man! One of the highlights is that they had to do an exercise where they ranked each other and themselves in a physical line. The point was that recruiters would have them ranked with, say, a top 3, a middle 10, and a bottom 3. So where did they think they stood? They could use their summer homework and orientation assignments (networking was a big part!) as a gauge. Adam put himself in the middle but then into the TOP! There were 4 at the top, so he said he'd step down, but the others said he deserved to stay, so another went down. So his peers thought he should be in the top 3. Cool! Then the professor said he'd made his own list and rearranged them according to what he saw. The only one to stay in the top 3 was Adam! Yay! He is well liked and did a great job presenting in the case competition. His team took 2nd overall.

I am realizing more and more that I need to "get used to looking at the back of his head," as my grandma advised when we got married. I guess she could tell he would always be busy! (She was mainly referring to the school years :)) But he is very busy and to top it off he was called as Scout Master and 2nd counselor in the YM's our first Sunday here. They are an extremelyactive troop, too. Lots of campouts and service projects. I was kind of going crazy when they asked him to speak. I was starting to wonder if all I was going to do was stay home with kids. But then I was asked to speak too and was called as RS pianist and Meeting Coordinator ("enrichment", etc.), Finally I have some responsibility besides changing diapers! :) I love changing diapers, though. There are so many at our house. My goal is to get out of the house everyday. So far I've mostly done it :)

Jane loves playing "Dad and Mom" lately. Here's is some proof:

Isn't she a natural? (There is a doll underneath the towel.) Haha. Really, she is already so excited to be a mom. Her prayer the other day went like this, "And thank you for a lot and lot of chips so I can grow taller and be a mommy and have my own children and I can be in charge of them." I do think she'll be a great mom someday. I just have to keep her power hunger at bay for now.

Audrey is talking more and more all the time. She doesn't say her "r"s so we'll be working on growling for now and maybe some little therapy sessions in the future. She also loves being a little mommy for Madelynn. Maddie is the first person she wants to see in the day and almost can't stand it when M. takes a nap. Audrey, like Jane, is very independent and one of her favorite words is "myself." Luckily this time around I'm more prepared to take things slower and let her do things herself.

Madelynn is not only crawling, climbing stairs, and growing teeth, but also standing up and walking along furniture already! She just started crawling one of the last weeks in Utah so we know we have to keep her at it for awhile, but she really loves standing. Here is a video of her when she first started a couple weeks ago (even though she isn't loving it as much as usual; she really just wanted to nurse...)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0YShaoilpI

And last of all, one of the perks of living in B-town is that there is a 7-eleven here. The first week of school also meant the first football game, so we went to the Business school's tailgating bbq (boy were we out of place) and of course the beverage was beer and nothing else, so we took the girls for their first slurpee after grabbing some food and making a quick exit. (BYU didn't prepare us for college tailgating.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTfaepzmg5g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL1HK6TpKJU

Madelynn Lucinda Marriott

Adam is a Daddy again... Audrey is a big sister... Jane is an even bigger sister...

Because Madelynn was born December 28, 2009!!I went into labor at 1:30 Sunday night. My family was here for Christmas and the week after, so we were hoping to have the baby during that time. That hope was fading as my Dad left to get back to work, and then what a relief to get those real contractions before anyone else left! I woke Adam up at 2:30, who got my mom up at 3. They both went back to bed and I slept between the contractions too until 6:30. We decided to go to the hospital and Adam gave me a great blessing before we left, part of it that I would have a clear mind. I was so tired that it was quite noticeable that I was getting extra help--it was like I wasn't even in labor in between contractions!

We got to the hospital and into my room by 8. The nurse got some good glares from my mom and Adam for asking me questions during contractions. She said she wasn't used to an un-induced, epidural free labor. That seems so weird to me. Are our numbers so few? At least she got Dr. Stumpf's permission to not give me an I. V. She then took an HOUR asking me what seemed like stupid questions, monitoring the baby again and again, taking some blood, and finally she said she'd let the Dr. know to come check me in another hour. I was like, I've already BEEN here an hour! I want to be checked NOW. Honestly. My mom says she thinks they weren't taking me seriously because I didn't look like I was in labor. Well guess what, if you cry out and thrash around it's way more painful. So she got permission to check me and I was a 9. I was probably a 9 all along. Dr. came down (mine was out of town, so it was his partner), broke my water, and then 2 or 3 contractons later, Madelynn was here.

Madelynn got a great apgar score and is perfectly healthy! She weighed 7 lbs 6 oz, was 19 1/2 inches, looks a lot like Jane, and is still a very sleepy baby a month later. Here are some of her first visitors:
John, Richard, Sarah

Ida

Gammie

I was starving.

2 weeks old:

Taken on Saturday: