1, 2, 3, Smile!!!

This picture is dated 1994--the biggest our family got before we started adding in-laws and grandchildren. We're a pretty handsome bunch!

Big Smiles from the Big Kids

A good Christmas morning haul in 2002! Brigham and Benjamin look like they're ready to hop on some motorcycles and cause some mayhem.

Christmas in the New House!!!

I think this must have been our first or second Christmas here in the new house. It was truly a magical Christmas for me--one of my very most memorable. Thank you, thank you, Mama and Daddy, for the amazing gift of musical instruments and a musical education! It continues to bless my life in every way.

 And because there are just so many great Christmas pictures... Here's the Christmas program bow from this same year, 1987. Anyone remember what play we put on?

Christmas in Centerfield

I love this picture--click on it so you can see Grandpa Frandsen's expression and the Christmas decorations in the background. Daddy, I'm guessing you were taking the picture here, right?

Kicking off the Christmas Season

So around the Sloan household, Dave makes me promise to hold off on Christmas music till Dec. 1st--or, as it will be this year, till we put the Christmas tree up (which will be tomorrow--Thanksgiving came early this year!). But I made no promises about this blog, so let the Christmas season begin! This would have been one of our largest Christmas Nativities. Can anyone name that year? And check out that fearsome angel--I can see why the shepherds might have been trembling!

Catching Up on Christian

Shame on me for missing the rest of Christian's birthday week! Here are a few more pictures of our wonderful missionary to finish off his seven-day celebration.

 How many Frandsen boys has this little blue outfit gone through? I love it!

 I'm quite certain this is Christian--the date on the folder suggests it is. But man, this picture sure looks like the spitting image of Miles.

 I'm pretty sure this is when Christian received the priesthood. I wasn't there--the only one who wasn't. How did I miss a Thanksgiving in Benson with my family?! I'm mad at myself that I didn't go when I was single and rich!

I love any picture I can find of our grandparents...

Christian, the Winner!!!

Happy Birthday, amazing Elder Frandsen! You have always been and will always be a winner in our family.

Easter Eggs Popping on the Apricot Tree

Okay, so ignoring my double chin, isn't Christian a darling little Easter Egg hunter? Hope his birthday delicacies in France rival the robin's eggs and peeps awaiting him in his Easter basket here...

Cutest Little Clothes Horse Ever

This has been one of the easiest weeks of pictures to put up, because every picture of Christian is cute! He can even make a fitted sheet look like a sheik's head-dress!

Christian and His Mommies

This little boy has always been adored by the many females in his life, starting with his mother (and, as I've always thought, namesake--am I correct in remembering that Daddy talked about Christian being sort of named after you, Mama, in his baby blessing?) and closely followed by Rosalynde, who was basically a second mother to him.

Happy Birthday Week, Elder Frandsen!!!

There are so many adorable pictures of Christian. This is going to be a fun week :). Let's get started with a common sight around the Frandsen household for many, many years: a cute, be-diapered toddler contemplating mischief!

Grateful for Easter Pictures

Look at what a beautiful family we are! Rosalynde, that pink dress and hat were the epitome of graceful beauty for me during a certain stage of my life, circa 1990.

Grateful for a Father Who...

...is one of the best Christians I know. I wish I could be at the Miller Eccles group tonight, Daddy. I'm proud that you are one of the many people striving to bring understanding, compassion, tolerance, and light to an often-fraught issue that can so very much affect our families and wards and communities. On another note, what were you so dressed up for? This would have been Decemberish 2002...

Grateful for a Sister Who...

...is such an inspired and inspiring writer. What treatise do you think Rosalynde is working out here?

Grateful for Babies Who...

...allow their big sisters to dress them up (or, perhaps, who don't know enough to protest!). Can anyone name this baby? Can anyone name the offending big sister?

Grateful for Baby Backpacks

Gabrielle gave me her purple baby backpack when Polly was born, and that one piece of baby paraphernalia has been used more consistently and over a longer period of time than about anything else besides the crib. It's how I do grocery shopping, how I get dinner fixed when Cici is fussy, how we go on outings, how I take walks when I'm babysitting other kids... So I'm grateful for baby backpacks, grateful to Gabrielle for giving me hers, and grateful to Mama and Daddy who modeled the use of it originally!

Grateful for a Brother Who...

...appreciates those little sugar cake decorations as much as I do! Happy Birthday Month, Christian!!! I have adored you since the day you were born!

Grateful for a Sister Who...

...can make even jean-on-jean look great. She could probably even rock the look on 4 hours of sleep broken up into 45-minute increments and separated by hours of soothing a wakeful baby.

Grateful for Babies

I am so grateful that babies have been a part of my life for my entire life. I've seen some pretty cute ones in my day, but these two are at the top of that list. There is nothing like the squeezable sweetness of a chubby toddler.

Grateful for Parents

I am grateful for my beautiful mother (who can still fit into her wedding dress!) and my handsome father (who could probably still fit into that great 1970's tux of his!). I am grateful that my father wanted to find a woman who was smart, musical, hard-working, grounded in the gospel, strong, devoted to family, etc., etc. And I am grateful that my mother married a man who was (and still is!) fun-loving, hard-working, intelligent, faithful, consecrated, thoughtful, etc., etc. What a glorious day June 22nd will always be for our family.

Grateful for Sugar

This was Benjamin's birthday night, and there's a great close-up of a cute teddy-bear cake that I'll put up sometime. But for now, I'll just leave you to a mouth-watering contemplation of what little Gabrielle, Naomi, Benjamin, and Abraham are about to eat. Happy No-Sugar November, everyone! I'm grateful for December 1st, when No-Sugar November will end :).

Happy November!!!

In this month of gratitude, I am grateful for my family. All nine people in this picture, plus the four to follow in the ensuing years, plus the three-and-a-half to join me in my own nuclear family many years later, plus all of the in-laws and nieces and nephews that would take a much, much bigger log than the one here to be adequately pictured! I love you all!!!