guess who's back!? back again....

zach is back, tell your friends. haha no furealz though. zach got home last night at 9.25ish. it was originally supposed to be 3.20 but, he missed his flight in phoenix which as an apparently confusing airport so we forgave him. he ran after the place[no he didnt, but he barely missed it]. his luggage actually came without him so me and stacie went and picked it up at 3.20 and gave dirty looks to everyone who left him because we felt someone should be responsible.

soo last night, the plane landed and people started coming off the plane and we were waiting forevaaa and we didnt see him and soon enough, there were only like a couple people left who came through the doors. then the security guard[who was the only one i saw working the airport istself] closed the door. which really confused us because he hadnt come out yet. so of course a bunch of thoughts came into our minds like, maybe he is hiding or maybe he wants a grand entrance and wanted to be the last one off and then there was also this, maybe something happened but we doubted that one. anyways, the suspension was killing us, obviously, and then we see the security guard come to the door one last time, and he opens the door and a fine, young, STUDLY missionary walks through the door. and then the tears fell and the screams came and really long hugs followed and it was basically wonderful:)

then he got released at the stake center and we[our fam, stacie, and my aunt alma and her boys] came back to our house and ate and talked and talked and talked for a long time.

then today...we hung out in the morning and i missed a few of my classes and then went to skool for a bit and fell asleep and yada yada yada we had some close friends over for dinner and a reunion basically:) and that was fun. the kids were all really happy to see zach, especially the ones that he used to babysit. and here's some pictures from that.....enjoy!

this is from before...we were pretty excited!

we were pretty excited!

the grand entrance!

president slaughter, mom, zach, dad
the fam[-rachel and garrick who are coming home tomorrow]
aunty alma and her boys[rudy, nile, trevor & ziggy] and zach

rob seaney, our neighbor don and zach
he was amazed that mitch grew to be taller than him. haha

all the kids

zach and owen being zach and owen.

so thats all the news for right now.

el fin:)

9 days!

only 9 more days til our little zach comes back! holy cowabunga. i cant say it hasnt gone by fast cuz it really did. my mom might think otherwise but anywho! we cant wait to see him and we've defff made a list of things to do and movies to watch in the short time that he is here before he leaves to byu. since theres not that much else to report or show, heres some pictures of him and i will fosho put up more when he comes back!

beth and zach

before[what a cutie] dad, elder smith, garrick, mom

yeah he caught 7 fish with his bare hands in some river in ny...no big deal.

at niagra falls--he doesnt always make that face. haha:)

in-aw-guration

whether democrat or republican, conservative or liberal, i think we can all say that our country has taken a step out of darkness into the light [not that bush led us into darkness or whatever, i think he did the best anyone could have done in the hard times we've had]. change will come, and hopefully it is for the better, although only time will tell. in any case, it was cool witnessing history and i'd just like to say that i fully support our president and i think he will do his best to restore the country to the best of his ability.

also, aretha franklin sang very soulfully and it was cool seeing her sing. also, our new president threw up the shaka sign[hang loose, bra] when his high school band from hawaii was playing which was pretty funny.

2009

is good thus far. didnt go to school today because im sick *cough cough*. it had nothing to do with the fact that the break was not long enough...zachs official 'return' date is february 11th! a wednesday which happens to be an early out for my school. its gonna be a good day. he will be speaking on the 15th if any of you would like to come.

the vacation was wonderful. short but sweet. rachel came down as soon as she could. garrick came later on and everyone was home[zach on the phone] christmas eve. disneyland was great, of course. a little bit wet, but good. brittni was there with her fam so we met up with their family which was also good. she came back with me and garrick that night and stayed until this last friday[they got stuck in the snow in fillmore]. rachel stayed til sunday morning and both she and garrick are back at byu probably at class right now.

random note: we have this random pumpkin at my house. i know halloween was like, 2 months ago but its not even rotten. i think my grandma gave it to us, probably thinking my mom could bake something out of it which she can but hasnt yet. anyways, i just thought that was weird. moving on...

heres some pictures from our wonderful christmas and none from new years because we didnt really celebrate it:

some of our cards

dad and his famous sock-sandal style...hahaha

rachel and bethany

just a couple of nerds

stacie and zach[kinda]

dad and his blackberry-garrick and his pulse pen

dad playing my guitar

garrick, rach, beth, mom, me

garrick, dad, rach, me

me, buzz, beth, rach, garrick to infinity and beyond!

sooooo pretty.

again, so pretty!

nemo ride-rachel was really into it:)

garrick and brittni[and brittnis mom in the back]

it really is a wonderful life:]

awful glad

Well, it's another christmas come and almost gone. Zach called last night while we had our early christmas because right now we are driving on the 5 to get to disneyland. Pretty exciting stuff! Almost the whole family, with the exception of zach, is going and we will probably all revert back to our childhood selves.

We switched from at&t to t mobile and now we all have blackberries. Even dad! So that's good news I guess. Its a pretty good phone. I'm posting this blog from it(like I said, we're driving right now). What else...bethany got a pram and a baby doll from santa and he ate the pumpkin pie we left him. I got a fender starcaster so I am officially a rock star! Rachel got a bunch of movies and a backpack for all of her heavy college books. Mom got movies also and a temporary phone(she's against the whole technology thing and doesn't want one but she'll use it for now until zach comes back). Garrick got some movies(dark knight) and a cool pen that records and helps you study better. Dad got a phone(like I said) and he loves it. Stacie came over last night which was fun and she got some lotion and a candle and a stocking:) coco got a treat. Hahaha

Well we are almost to disneyland sooo I'm gonna jet. That's all she wrote.

christmas time is here!

i looove christmas time! the decorations, the cold weather, the end of the semester, the lights, the trees, the music. after thanksgiving, the christmas music starts playing on the radio and we start singing it in choir. people thinks its too early for christmas but i love it. not all of the music is good[eg: merry christmas darling] but most of it is[eg: everything else]

on thursday, we had our christmas concert[liberty's] and it went pretty well! i didnt forget any words and we all sang pretty well considering how much we mess around during choir class.

chamber chorale sang deck the halls, jingle bells, we wish you a merry christmas, and santa claus is comin to town. and chorale sang oh come all ye faithful, christmastime is here, and the angels sang, angels in seven, and peace, peace.

i was gonna upload some videos but it was taking forev[sorry rach!] so here's some other pictures of our christmas decorations and trees and everything else i said i love about christmas!

joy! ornament[thanks sis urmston!]

my door hanger elf[buddy]

moms gold christmas tree

my christmas tree

bethany's pink and brown[martha stewart] tree

my favorite ornament of the day.
zach made it when he was almost 4. whadda cutie!

we are thankful

[in no particular order]for good health, music, technology, food, shelter, each other, the church, the gospel, missionaries, church leaders, friends, family, extended family, discipline, education.

we're thankful we have things to be thankful for.

and i'm awful thankful of that.

city of angels

huntington pier w/ the wihongis

ohh the beach!

crazy protesters...

i thought it was, a stroll on the beach.
not a segway adventure on the beach...

surfer dude...

the fam and i went to l.a this weekend. it was quite a trip. we went mostly to say goodbye and farewell to some family friends we've known for a while. they're moving back to new zealand[where we first met them] at the beginning of december so this was pretty much the only time we could see them between now and then. we left on friday and got to the temple in time to check in to the motels and for our parents to get ready and go to the stake temple session. while they were there, me and beth watched the movie nims island which was pretty good even tho i thought it wasnt going to be. anyways, we spent the night at the hotel and then left in the morning to go to the wihongis[our friends]. we spent a lot of time with them and we went to the beach which is where most of the pictures were taken. we saw some protesters and a lot of surfers and what not. the usual beach stuff. then we went back to their place and had dinner. then kendall and maddie[two of their girls] took me and beth to see madagascar 2 at the movies[which was also pretty good!] and it was a lot of fun. then we went to another family friends house to stay the night. in the morning we went to the wihongis church and then we went to their house for dinner, said our goodbyes[sadness] and then we came home. it was good seeing them and the beach and the temple and everything! good weekend!