I recently completed at 10 day business trip to the US and was able to stop by and visit Chelsea and co in LA.  They have a lovely home and of course the weather was perfect!  Had a great time visiting and playing with Kiera - she is growing up fast and of course in my completely unbiased opinion is very smart!  

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Honeycrisp Apples

Fall is my favorite season...by far. You know it's fall out east when apple picking season is in full swing. At the end of August we went apple picking out in the country. We picked pounds and pounds of the world's most delicious apple: the honeycrisp. This apple has ruined every other apple for me...galas, johnagolds, and pink ladys don't do it for me anymore.

Here's a picture of the gorgeous apples on my kitchen table. We've already eaten them all, so here's to next year's apple picking!

Privacy?

I know that some may be more cautious about their online presence and feel more comfortable sharing if the blog is only accessible to people in the family.

I personally think that's a great suggestion, but am not sure if that would make it a little complicated and confusing for those who aren't used to blogging. Some of my friends have decided to go private with their blogs and it's been harder for me to keep track of their updates (which means that I end up reading their blogs less). This may not be a problem since I can enter our family members' emails and sign them up for automatic email notification of blog posts.

Also, can people without gmail addresses access the blog if I email them invitation links after going private?

Some of you have taken your personal blogs private, so I would really appreciate it if you can give me a few pointers about these questions!

Sunday happenings...

repost from my blog - 9-30-2012

This morning Jesse turns to me and says, "I think Emily just ran downstairs to make breakfast." I rolled over to look at the clock. 6:36am. I decided to see how this one played out. She came in right before 7:00, telling me she was starving and so hungry! I played along, telling it would take me forever to decide what to even make for breakfast!

We walked downstairs to a dark kitchen, flipped on the lights, and this is what we saw (and to some of those in the background, those were some bright lights!):

She even made name tags!

hahahahahaha! Mason's just figuring out how to read and did a really good job with his note!

It was the tastiest bowl of cereal and toast I've ever had from the girl with a big heart.

Anyway, church usually wears me out (I stay up way too late getting my primary singing time lesson plans finished on Saturday night!), so we have a routine: church, lunch, quiet house while mommy and Amberlyn nap, Jesse stays for meetings. I love my Sunday naps! Today the kids were being awesome, so I let them have free reign with their creativity during "quiet time."

This is what they came up with - a tea party with all their stuffed animals!

If you ask them what is on their plates - it's salad. Because everyone eats salad at tea parties. Don't you?

Paper cookies. With crayon colored sprinkles.

"Rainbow" bear, wearing Amberlyn's dress.

The pen and paper was because "we were all (meaning all the stuffed animals) going to draw for our activity," says Emily.

How was your Sunday?

Kiera and I are busy all week long mostly because of the amazing new ward we go to. It's a much younger crowd then our old ward and very involved mothers. One mom teaches a music class and another mom teaches a dance class. Kiera is the youngest in both classes but I think she is the best little dancer! Besides these classes she is in a Chinese class which is has finally been brave enough to speak up this week! Of course it involved asking for food. Another random fun thing we did this week was we found this park where a lady of a bunny rescue club of some sort brings her bunnies to the park every Friday for others to enjoy ! She loved touching the bunnies!

Besides Kiera I have been crafting nightly when she goes to bed :D. Since we have about 11 people pregnant in the ward and all due in the span of 4 months. I have been making baby shower gifts. This one is the favorite one I have made so far. 

Office Portraits

Reposted from my blog 09.26.2012*

Marketing department decided that I would be part of the "Leadership Profile" portion of our company website (still under construction). Of course, I'm her boss, so maybe that's a factor. Definitely one of the funnest part of my job since the promotion four months ago.

As it turned out, I had a terrible time working the professional look. It's supposedly some sort of serene Mona Lisa smile, mixed in with "I'm such a bomb manager" eyes. 

And, you know your eyes must be really small when other Chinese people told you to keep your eyes open while you were already doing your best to stretch those taunt eyelids beyond their God-given max. 

Caught mid-walk. 

Apparently too much attitude for clients.

I wanted to wear my boots at first. Vetoed by everybody.

Luckily, I keep a healthy shoe storage under my desk.

Flowy dresses are so distracting on a gorgeous windy day.

"Finally!" The photographer says. "One that works."

* I know that some of you already have your personal blog, so go ahead and repost from time to time so we can have some of the posts in one centralized location!

Baby Boy Bollinger - great alliteration!

A special thanks to Sisi for putting this together!!  And for motivating me to participate.  I have every intention to blog and keep a 'journal' of our little family, but intentions don't always publish my stories.  So here goes!

Charlie is two months old and we love him more than ever!  He is a super good baby, and already giving us 5-6 hours of sleep at night.  I have fallen in love with Bubba all over again, watching him be a daddy to this little angel.  It's been awesome.

For a quick update: Charles David Bollinger was born on July 25th at 5:54 pm.  He weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces, and was 19.5 inches long.  Bubba got to 'play doctor' and catch him, often saying "He's a slippery little bugger!"  Good thing the real doctor was right there.  :)

He just had his two month appointment yesterday and is weighing 11 pounds 9 ounces (40th percentile), 22.5 inches long (50th percentile).  He got his shots too, and was not a happy camper!  But he survived!

 Bubba loves the messy hair

 Charlie loves cuddling with Gramma Messick!

Seriously the light of my life!

We're doing well.  Bubba is still working as a Purchasing Agent at TVSpecialists.  I stopped being a full-time crisis worker (evaluating patients that come into the ER with suicidal ideation, drug overdoses, and/or psychosis, and place them in inpatient psychiatric units, etc.).  I have also done a lot of administrative work, helping to coordinate the other crisis workers and scheduling, payroll, etc.  So I still go in once a week (thanks to Gramma for watching Charlie, and also Bubba's cousin), and then put myself on the calendar a couple times a month since it is 24/7 care.  I still need a few hundred hours before I am able to get my license as a clinical social worker.  I'll get there...slowly, but surely!

I'm excited to hear how others are doing and see their cute families!  Thanks again, Sisi, for getting this going!!  And don't worry, I will post a lot, since I have the most beautiful son ever!  ;)

The Messick Connection

I'm excited to be able to share about the Idaho Messick's adventures and hear about what's going on in all of your lives.  Cheers to the Messick Connection!

Snapshots of Family Reunion 2012

Kiera knows her crowd.

Love Noal's smirk.

We're pretty serious about our food.

Tyson owning the grill.

Color coding.

Lounging.

Candids. 

Puppy dog look :)

Posers.

Genesis

When we were kids, it was easy to overcome the initial shyness when seeing cousins at the bi-annual family reunions. Once somebody called out a capture the flag game or laid out the beautiful materials to make dream catchers (still one of my most vivid memories - thanks Valerie!), we ran off, remembering why we were friends . . . because we were family.

Now that we're older, possibly even with kids of our own who can toss their own frisbees, we are more reserved, trying to start up conversations with each other based on what we remember from last year. Your kids are so tall! Wow, can I hold the baby? Are you still working at that job? Oh, you guys broke up . . . ? So update me on your year!

As for me, I often found myself debating whether being family would mean that it would be less socially awkward to mention that I occasionally stalk you. Your facebook. Your blog (why haven't you updated recently??). Your side photography/ etsy/ homeschool kindergarten gigs. Your kids' "firsts." Your own latest.

And I have also noticed the occasional comment from a cousin/ aunt on my own blog. Or consistently enthusiastic "likes" on facebook.

So here's to owning up to the fact that we want to stay updated on each others' lives and that we care about those picnics, milestones and the bajillionth photo of your kids. And while we're at it, let's make it even more accessible to catch up on Messick family news all in one place.

Click here to see how you can get more involved on this blog and in the family.