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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!

Mother's Day

I love being a Mom. Sure it can be frustrating sometimes but I don't know what I would do with myself if a didn't have my little ones to look after- being an empty-nester sounds horrifying at this point. Having a holiday to celebrate something I honestly LOVE doing is like icing on the cake.

The highlight of this year was seeing my 2 little brothers, Dad, and Husband, scrambling around the kitchen in an effort to put dinner together. Priceless. I thought it very sweet of John (who doesn't cook) to try and make the "buffins" (a cross between biscuits and muffins). They definitely turned out different, but honestly not bad- nothing a little honey butter couldn't fix (though John thought they tasted like play dough).
My youngest brother Tommy made a salad which was equally endearing. It was a spring mix topped with a medley of carrots, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and strawberries. Once again, interesting, but not bad.

Thank you boys for a fabulous Mother's Day! John also got me a bouquet of green roses (my favorite color- though Tommy joked that they weren't ripe yet) and a lovely card.

Another special thanks to my own mother who is an exemplary example to me of what a mother ought to be. She is thoughtful, creative, lovely, self-sacrificing, self disciplined, kind, and a wonderful cook. I love you mama!

Did you know?

Family Home Evening can be held on the trampoline?! Just one more reason why living with Grandma and Grandpa is pretty sweet.

Race Day

The West Valley Search and Rescue Run is something my mom has participated in for probably 10 years now. It starts a couple blocks from my parents house and runs through their neighborhood- so whenever I am around in the end of April, I run the 10k with my mom. This year was especially fun because my friend Nichole who was visiting from Miami ran it with us and Natalie ran in the kiddie K which she was particularly proud of. She has informed that when she gets bigger she will be running in races with me and Nana. I honestly wouldn't doubt it coming to fruition. My mom is in such great shape I envision she will be running until she is 80!

Kiddie-K!

One proud momma

Nichole and myself with our children. Nichole is one of those great friends where even when you haven't talked or hung out in forever, it just picks right up the next time you do. :) Thanks for visiting from Miami Coly!

High school BFFs: Wendy, Emily, and Nichole

We heart Huntington Beach

Perhaps it's nostalgia from the time we lived here- but we just love going to Huntington Beach. Fortunatley for the kids- we packed their suits this time. As evidenced below- they had a blast!

Henry loved running into the water. What boy doesn't love getting dirty?

Sandy Bottoms

Natalie perferred the sand to the water

Too cool for school

This picture doesn't illustrate clearly all the lady bugs who were also vacationing that day at the beach. There were literally hundreds of them on the shore line risking death as they ventured too close to the water and got carried away into the waves. Is it just me or is that odd? I thought ladybugs belong in the garden, not the beach. Perhaps they too like to change it up every now and then.

Did you know?

You can make an adorably tiny pizza using the metal lid from a can of juice concentrate. My mom used to do this with my siblings and I when we were little so we could make our own tiny, personal pizzas. So fun! Now she is doing it with my daughter. Living with Nana has its perks =)