Emily's Day of Birth

We had a marvelous time celebrating Emily, today. She actually ended up preparing most of her own birthday meal, an elegant Parisian brunch complete with mushroom spinach omelettes, croissants, asparagus, green salad with Parisian dressing (mustard vinagrette) and cafe au lait. When we all shared what we appreciated most about Emily, Benjamin said, "I like her backrubs!" Like father, like son. Lunch was followed by long naps for all then an evening of cooking, blogging, working on Christmas projects, and watching Breach. We love you, Emily!

Thanksgiving Day Wright Family Arizona Branch

We had a wonderful day; the company was the best, everything was delicious, and we were all just so relaxed. That was the best part. Cody got home in plenty of time for the meal, we had time for naps before AND after, the kids did relatively well, considering we made them wait until after 3 to eat. The only thing missing was all of YOU!
Our feast:
Our table:
My pie: (I was pretty proud of this one, and everyone liked it so well, I made two more the next day, one for us, one for the staff at the hospital...I am very thankful Cody has had such a light weekend.)

Thanksgiving Day for Wright family, Austin Branch

We spent today with Clint's family. This was his father's siblings and families' 35th year to spend Thanksgiving at this tiny Church of Christ youth camp near Marble Falls, Texas. There were about 70 people from all over the United States and England, converging to camp and play Wednesday - Friday. I love this tradition. Of course Clint grew up doing this every year, so he and his cousins have great stories together. I've been brainstorming. . .

The newlyweds:

Clint's sister Holly and her daughter Alise. Clint's in the background here, having just cut the top of his head on some branches. See the blood on his hand?:


You can't see us real well, but here we are after a hike up a "cliff" before lunch. (Matthew praising Jackson climbing rocks, "You're an old pro!" Jackson, "No, silly, I'm not a scarecrow!")

Closeup of me and the Harrier. What do you think he's got on his mind?:

For lunch I made the pecan pie from Joy of Cooking, cranberry chutney, and mashed potatoes. Now I want pictures from the Wright family, Arizona branch(es), and if you happened to get pictures, Sarah, Wright family, Arkansas branch!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am especially thankful for all of YOU, my wonderful family! We're looking forward to a fun day today. Josh, Emily, and Benjamin are on their way up from Phoenix and should be here any minute, and Mara should be joining us around noon. They're bringing all kinds of delicacies: pecan pie, brussel sprouts with pancetta, green bean casserole, Emily's cranberry relish.

Sadly, my hard-working husband is on call once again (he was on Thanksgiving last year, so I'm hoping for both Thanksgiving and Christmas off for 2008!), so he's already at the hospital, but he'll be home for the feast. The turkey is in the oven and things are smelling good...now to get Sophie in the bath so SHE smells good. We love you all, and can't wait to see you soon!

Preparations

Arlen, a fellow grad student friend, is trying to start a photography business, and asked if he could take some photos for us as an example of family portraits for his portfolio (so far he's just done lecture photos on campus). He's the one who took the Funny Face portait I've posted here. So of course we jumped at the chance and set up a time on Friday, hoping to use these for Christmas card pictures. I'm posting this one because I thought it was an amusing view of getting ready for the photos - he was just getting lighting right at this point.

Jacksonlocution

Overheard while working at the computer (Ruthie giving Jackson a bath):

JRW: Did Daddy have to go to work?
RW: Yes, he's working. We wish we could be with him all day don't we?
JRW: Yea, Daddy's a good man. He's handsome.

Now that's what I like to hear! We're starting to get that boy trained. Next up in the catechism: Daddy combines the civic virtue of a George Washington with the flinty omnipotence of a Jason Bourne.

Laurel and Clint's Wedding! Pt. 2 The Rehearsal

Unfortunately, these pictures are all poor. My camera has to have almost perfect light. But I'm posting them anyway so you get an idea of the wedding. I didn't take pictures of the wedding itself for obvious reasons, nor of the reception because I was so busy packing bags, having the marriage license signed, meeting and greeting, and I knew the photographer would do a better job (imagine that!). I'm hoping to get some digitals from Laurel and Clint later to post. I can't wait until they return from their honeymoon!

Sisters together:

The Mother Mastermind:


A happy groom (his three brothers and son Josh were the groomsmen):
A proud father and eager groom:
Stay tuned for Pt. 3 The Wedding!

Laurel and Clint's Wedding! Pt. 1 The Shower

A few weeks before the wedding Laurel's friend Missy and I threw a shower at our apt. Here's Laurel with Missy and Mariah:
Clint's beautiful daughter Katie. She's about to turn 11:
Missy and Laurel playing a shower game with Harry and Laurel's new niece:

The Boys' Birthday Party

As you all know, on Thursday of last week we celebrated the boys' 1st and 3rd birthdays with Mama, Daddy, Laurel, Clint, and cousin Mary Eleanor, in town for Laurel's wedding.

Here's Harry asking, "When, oh, when, will they arrive for my party? Are you sure they're coming? I'm drooling for my first bite of cake.":
Jackson: "Gee, Harry, maybe you're right. I worked for days rolling out gingerbread men and baking cupcakes. Is it all for naught?":

This recipe for the cupcakes was quite good:

Cousin Mary Eleanor all the way from Tulsa, Oklahoma (side note - we had Jackson's 3-yr. pediatrician appt. a few days ago and he was off the charts for height. His 4/5 yr. socks are too small and he wears a size 10 shoe!):

Every chair we have here in Austin scooted up to our little kitchen/dining room table, and my Dad eating half a loaf of bread:

I asked Clint to take this next picture because it demonstrates a fundamental difference between my and Matthew's approach to work. My gingerbread men are on the right. I figured out a good system and then started to crank them out factory-style. Matthew, on the other hand, spend the same amount of time detailing two to perfection. Jackson's are on the top, done, um, toddler-style. :)
We wish you could have been there too!

Oral Defense

My oral defense was yesterday and it went really well. I passed and so... I'M DONE!!!

Camp Adventure

We took Benjamin camping again this weekend in Cottonwood, AZ. It wasn't quite as successful as our first trip... Benjamin doesn't sleep too well in colder weather. But the bigger adventure greeted us when we woke up. We heard a noise in the distance that Josh thought sounded like an airplane...



A hot air balloon! Then it came closer. Benjamin was very excited.



Then it landed practically in our camp!



A truck pulled up with a trailer to load up the balloon. It was fun to see it land so close (you can see our car in the foreground), but suddenly there were 10 people camping with us. They even had a welcome table with hot drinks and food. So we packed up our camp pretty quickly and headed out for a hike.

Comparison

This picture was taken the day Jackson turned one, November 10, 2 years ago Saturday:
And this one on Harry's First today:
A little fuzzy, so I tried again with the flash:

The Harrier Turns One!

Today Harry Turned One. Things started out pretty rough for the little guy, as you can see:
But by Christmas, he was settled into life, though admittedly, it was still a little startling:
Back in Princeton for the spring semester, he began to warm up to the fun,:
And by October 3, he was glad to be here:
And now nothing can keep that boy from smiling:
We love you so much, Harry Bear. You are a blessing beyond belief.

Bucks for bangs

Dave and Lynn, this is all for you. After numerous partially successful or failed attempts to cut Soph's hair, we have turned to our family's pro, Kathy, of Red 115 Salon. She is trying to undo the ravages I wrought on Sophie's hair in time for your wedding. She is definitely feeling the pressure and rubbing it in every time I get my hair cut.

I invite you to marvel at Kathy's technique--I have no idea how she does it. You will notice Soph keeps absolutely still and even seems to enjoy the process. Despite the familiarity and seeming safety of her own bathroom, at home Sophie screamed and screamed whenever I took more than one cut an hour and would always turn abruptly into the scissors (forcing us to use this horrible, blunted pair to keep from poking her eye out). Kathy has been pulling her hair into shape and I know Sophie will be the perfect little flower girl in time for December. We can't wait!!

Jackson's Bible Hour (Hot off the presses!)

I'm in the living room working on the computer; Jackson is in the kitchen stuffing huge spoonfuls of hot cereal into his mouth and narrating the following:

The devil says, “No, you have to come with me.” But Jesus said, “No, I have to follow Jesus.” But the devil said, “No you have to come with me because I’m the bad devil. You’re not obeying. You have to come with me.” But God said, “No, I have to come with Jesus.”

Tune in next week for more in Pastor Jackson's popular series "'I have to follow Jesus': Reconceptualizing Trinitarian Categories"

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Our Sweet Sack of Sugar, and Martha, Eat Your Heart Out!

Here is Sophie as a bag of Jelly Beans for Halloween this year. This was a costume I invented back in high school...it's about as cheap and simple as they come and darn cute, if I do say so myself!













And here is our latest decorating venture...I spent several hours last weekend arranging books by color on our bookshelf and am rather proud of the results. It looks even better in person, and it was fun to do! I highly recommend it as a way to unify what was previously quite cluttered and chaotic and make it a decorating asset. (Do you think MSL will hire me?)

Doing Calculations with Sophie

OK, a Wright family quiz: What's the significance of the following numbers?
31553 and 618.7718
(Hint: Sophie asked me to show her these on the calculator)

Also, my two favorite things Sophie is saying these days:
"Isn't that an igoodea?" (good idea)
"My shirt (or panties, or hair, etc.) is all twinkled." (tangled/wrinkled)

Can I just say I'm loving this age?