Merry Christmas from the Ropers

Well folks- it looks like Christmas cards aren't going to happen this year so Merry Christmas via our blog. The above picture is the closest we got to a Christmas card picture but it would have never done due to the Henry's pained face and Natalied blank look. Oh well- heres hoping for some lovely Valentines! Thanks to all of you for your lovely cards...better luck next year for myself. Below are a few Christmasy photos. Unsurprisingly I didn't get a single photo of Christmas day which was fantastic by the way (so fun to be in our own home for the first time Christmas morning) but we got some video- so we will take what we can get.

Disneyland is way fun at Christmas time, particularly Small World- we made it there a few times.

Henry with Santa at the church. Natalie refused to sit on his lap...

...fortunately, she had another chance at her preschool.

On Christmas Eve we went over to my parents house for dinner. All of my siblings were there (except for my brother John and his family) so it was a lot of fun. The grandkids acted out the Nativity as my brother James read from the Bible. Here Natalie is with my youngest brother Tommy portraying Mary and Joseph. The age difference is a bit alarming but none of her cousins wanted to be Joseph and Tommy is perpetually a good sport...

Here are some wise men and the back of our shepherd's head =)

All of us on Christmas Eve (except my parents)

Have you seen Princess and the Frog yet? I have only seen it 5 times now (in my defense we have only paid for it twice =)

Pies and Premieres

As promised, here are a few highlights of our November. On the 7th (my Pappy's birthday) we found ourselves on the red carpet at the Princess and the Frog Premiere in Pasadena. We never would have imagined ourselves at one of these events... but what fun! F.Y.I. the movie comes out TODAY and is fantastic. I am openly bias but I have seen it twice now and laughed out loud both times=)

I snapped this photo from our car while we were stuck in traffic waiting to park....

The red carpet

After seeing the movie- which was definitely the highlight of the evening- we went to the after party where we ate southern-inspired dishes (the movie takes place in New Orleans)...

....took pictures with some of the characters....

.....got our palms read (the villain in the movie is a voodoo witch doctor)

.... listened to a very loud live jazz band and watched other people dance =). (By the way the music in the movie is GREAT- the songs tend to get stuck in your head though, consider yourself warned) It was fun to meet the people John works with and hob nob with the very talented and creative people who make these movies. I got to meet one of the directors of the movie- he also directed Aladdin and The Little Mermaid. This movie is good people- did I mention it comes out TODAY. I could have touched John Lasseter at about five different times that night I was so close but I didn't get up the nerve to tell him I was a big fan...lame huh? Upon leaving they had a table set up outside with tiny glasses of milk with a cookie on top. A fantastic way to end the evening.

Two weeks later the kids got to see the movie at a special screening at the movie theater in the Animation Studios. They loved it and Natalie has been playing Princess and the Frog ever since (I am usually the villain and she is Tiana).

As for the pies part of my post's title- we traveled to Utah for Thanksgiving. The above picture was taken in our motel room in St. George.

There wasn't much snow left but that didn't stop the kids from playing in it. Yes Henry is wearing a pink beanie....

On Thanksgiving Natalie informed us that she wanted to make a turkey snowman. It seemed appropriate being turkey day and all so this is what we came up with.

It was especially nice to spend some time with our remaining Grandparents. Natalie loves her Great Grandparents and insisted on sitting between Grandma and Grandpa Ballard at Cowboy Grub.

Here we are with Grandma and Grandpa Ogilvie. I love how Natalie is hugging my Grandma. Henry is naked because he pooed all over his clothes...

See. I told you it was a good month. Now go see Princess and the Frog and DON'T leave when the credits come up. Wait for a long time until you see the section entitled "Production" and the second name down will read "John. D. Roper". You may applaud or tell the remaining theater guests that you know him (or his wife respectively). Then wait even longer until the very end and it will say "Production Babies" and look for Henry's name. It will say "Henry." Finally, leave me a comment and tell me how you liked the movie...oh and tell your friends how much you like it too =). Look at that I just gave you all homework.

Back to Bloggin'

Good Morning! (Nothing like a tub shot to capture ones attention =)

Considering the fact that it has been six months since my last post (I know), there have been several noteworthy events that have occurred within our family. To all five of my loyal followers (if you have not yet given up on my blog) allow me to briefly summarize the last few months below:

For those of you who aren't interested in the Roper family's last six months; here is a cute picture of Natalie....

...and Henry, to part with. For those of you brave enough to see this post through, here goes:

In May Natalie turned 4....

and completed her first dance class and recital. Her teacher was named "Miss Natalie."

In June we went to Utah to celebrate my Grandma Cottam's (Nanny) 90th birthday. She is pictured her with my whole family minus two bro-in-laws.

While in Utah Natalie and Henry got to spend some time with their Cottam cousins

and Roper cousins =)

Henry decided it would be fun to dive out of a shopping cart shortly before Nanny's birthday celebration.

Happy Fourth of July!

In July we returned to Utah for Nanny's funeral =(. I miss her. We shared a birthday and called ourselves birthday girls. She always told me I was fantastic. A few fun facts about Nan: she could jump rope and tap dance at the same time, she was the youngest of 8 and had nieces and nephews who were older and attended school with her, she taught 2nd grade for 30 years, she described herself as a recycled teenager, she was an excellent bargain shopper and was known to wear leopard print, patent leather, and many accessories. I used to call her my fancy Grandma.
I love you Nanny!

On our 6th anniversary (July 18th)- we moved out of my parents house and into a lovely rental home in Glendora. We love it here.

Natalie completed a gymnastics class through the city of Glendora. Cute.

In August we joined the Ballard clan at a Dodger game to see John's Grandpa throw the ceremonial first pitch.

The kids made it through the entire game and we had excellent seats. Fun times!

At the end of August we ditched John and spent a week at Lake Powell with my family.

Natalie expressed interest in skiing but we didn't have any small skis. She tried wake boarding instead and did awesome. Very proud.

This picture is unrelated but Henry began going to nursery at church (hooray!) and is doing well there. I was made a sunbeam teacher which I love (4 well behaved 4 year olds is pretty fun) and John is the Young Men's President. We really love our ward.

Natalie started Preschool. She loves it.

In October I ran the St. George marathon with my good friend Lisa.

With her help I came in at 3:51:53 -totally blowing my old time out of the water. Score.

I braved a flight to Ohio with the kiddies for a brief visit with John's brother Mark and his lovely wife Britta. They were excellent hosts and we had a great time. As much as I love California there is sometimg to be said about the changing of the seasons. The fall leaves were beautiful.

Happy Halloween from John, Wendy, a black cat and a giraffe.

I'll spare you the details of my November which is shaping out to be a most excellent month for my next post (don't worry- I wont wait 6 months =)
The End

NEWSFLASH!!!

Together Again.

John

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Disney

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Employment

This week marks John's second week in his new position with The Walt Disney Company. After seven months of unemployment...he is right back in Burbank - only this time he will be working in this building...

...and instead of doing workforce analytics in the corporate human resources department, he is doing production finance. Right now he is working on the Princess and the Frog which comes out in December. In the Disney tradition, it is a hand-drawn movie. Check out the trailer HERE.

So John is happily employed once more. His office (no more cubicle) is sandwhiched between two cleanup artists and there are artists and art all over the place, which is clearly more exciting than being surrounded by fellow businessmen.

John got us tickets to see a special screening of Disney/Pixar's UP (which is most excellent, I might add) last week in a small theater within the animation studios. Speaking of Pixar, John pointed out John Lasseter's office to me (whom he saw the other day) while showing me around his new workplace. Though you might get burned, working for Disney does have its perks =) Hooray for more free Disneyland trips!