Fall Folderol

Apologies for the photo dump, but we have some serious catching up to do, as we haven't posted any of our goings-on since July, and the last two months have possibly been the most eventful of our now three-year matrimonial adventure! So bear with us!

We were blessed to spend the first few days of August (immediately after Michael completed the bar exam) at the last Ralph and Gwen Robertson Family Reunion in Star Valley Wyoming. If there's one thing you can say about the Robertson clan (and we actually are a true Scottish clan), it's that we're a competitive bunch. The reunion featured races (courtesy of John Robertson), volleyball, and basketball and horseshoe tournaments, not to mention . . . 

. . . competitive fishing. The Rob and Evelyn Robertsons fielded competitors in all events, but failed to place in any, although we're convinced that Micah would have won the fishing if his hook hadn't caught on his diaper during a particularly difficult cast.

The excitement of the whole thing (SO many cousins to play with!) took it out of him. However, from the below picture, it's difficult to tell whether he's sleeping with his head in his hands or is about to pull a broadsword out of his back scabbard (we are Scottish, after all). Take it from us, he's just relaxing (or else he's constipated).

After the reunion, we were sad to see Scott, Janelle, Alan, James, and Lucy fly back to Boston, but we were fortunate to have Grandma and Grandpa Robertson come to stay with us and the Skidmores for about a week in Fruit Heights. We had a blast!

And of course Anna being around for part of August made things all the better.

Micah wanted a train cake for his second birthday. Imagine what would happen if Carlo's Bake Shop (from Cake Boss) merged with the Union Pacific, and I think you have a pretty good idea of the amazing cake that Sarah made for this extremely happy little boy. He was almost as excited about the birthday hats as he was the cake. This is a boy who loves all things celebratory (just like his old man).

The beautiful Robertson girls on the morning of Isla's baby blessing.

The whole gang at the baby blessing. It was wonderful to have so much family and so many friends from different parts of our lives in attendance. To quote two of Western culture's greatest philosophers on friendship: "'We'll be Friends Forever, won't we, Pooh?' asked Piglet. 'Even longer," Pooh answered." Our friendships are among our greatest treasures.

Grandpa Robertson photo-bombing (he thought Michael was going to drop her).

Asleep . . .

Awake!

It's rare nowadays for Micah to actually look at the camera, but when he does he totally steals the spotlight. His smile is worth the rest of us looking somewhat schlubbish at the Ogden Temple Open House.

Anna is a very devoted and loving aunt. "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night . . ."

One of our favorite places to visit while in Utah is the church history museum. Micah loves the kids' area.

Anna took us on a tour of Rexburg and the BYU-Idaho campus. The temple is beautiful! And we had a great time driving up and back and visiting with the Tavenners and seeing the Idaho Falls Temple and the falls.

A great action shot of Micah at the splash park. He literally spent a half hour running laps around all the sprinklers and the other kids. We may have a Louis Zamperini on our hands (hopefully without the years spent in a POW camp).

Anna and Isla!

We're not particularly aeronautical (Michael has to take dramamine before riding in an elevator), but we nonetheless enjoyed our visit to the Hill Air Force Base Museum. It was a great afternoon with Grandma Skidmore.

Another visit to the Ogden Temple open house, this time with Grandma Skidmore. Micah loved his booties. 

A friendly llama at Thanksgiving Point. The turkeys, however, were not so friendly. One of them attempted, with some success, to take a bite out of Micah's fingers. You may have won the battle, Mr. Turkey, but on November 27th, we will win the war.

If Isla were older (like a teenager / young adult), she wouldn't let us post the below picture because she'd be worried about her double chin . . . and her near-baldness . . . and her tiny stature . . . and Michael's squinty eyes and general ridiculousness; but that's why children are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, because they let you post embarrassing pictures of them on the internets.

One day Micah will be disappointed when he realizes he'll never get a real dinosaur for his birthday. But he'll get over it once he realizes he'll never get a real pony either.

. . . or a real elephant.

Grandpa took the day off work on one of our last days in Utah to take Micah and the rest of us to the zoo. That day also happened to be Michael's birthday. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Skidmore!

And thanks, Sarah, for an amazing, delicious pan of mint brownies for my 28th! This was the best, most delicious birthday (non-)cake ever! And this was also the first birthday in a few years that I didn't spend driving across the country, or in Houston, or beginning the most difficult academic year of my life, or generally engaging in non-birthday related activities. Oh, birthdays - how I love ye! I'm worse than Micah.

And the obligatory family birthday photo, because that's really what made this birthday so special.

Micah and Michael found this tarantula in Grandma and Grandpa's driveway. There was some debate about whether or not to kill it or simply return it to its natural habitat - the mountain across the street; unfortunately, by the time the debate occurred, it was too late to have anything but a theoretical application . . .

If you just look at his eyes, you'd think he was doing some serious thinking. But if you just look at his mouth, you'd think - well, you still might think that he was a two-year-old doing some serious thinking; or else Michael Jordan going up for a monster slam.

Micah MARK Robertson sure loves his namesake.

We moved to Colorado at the beginning of September to be nearer to Caleb, Meagan, Kerianne, Lindsay, Gretchen, Sam, and Aimee (and, of lesser importance, Michael's new job at Holland & Hart). We're renting a duplex across the street from the park pictured below. It's pretty cool to look out our front window every day and see this. We love Colorado!

                     

Our neighbors have a pumpkin patch (different neighbors have horses and chickens and sheep) and invited us over for Micah to pick out a pumpkin. They had a lot of different varieties in different colors and shapes, but Micah was pretty sure that only the round orange ones were real pumpkins. He loves his pumpkin, and he'll probably be traumatized if we actually carve it.

                                 

This is what Micah does when we ask him to make a face like his cousin James. He has a long way to go in the James-department, but don't we all?

                                       

This is actually an October picture. At the beginning of October, Michael was able to attend the J. Reuben Clark Law Society (Mormon lawyers' organization) Leadership Conference in Aspen Grove. They hiked to Stewart Falls and sang hymns at daybreak. Aspen Grove is a beautiful camp, and the conference was great. They heard from George Durrant, Susan Easton Black, and Matthew Durrant, among others. We also enjoyed spending some more time with the Skidmores and watching general conference. 

                                   

And a last picture for the road: See you next month!

                                   

Readers Roost

Because we're all readers here, we just wanted to share with those of you who have made it this far the books we've been enjoying in our house over the last couple of months. Sarah has been reading and loving Zero to Five: 70 Essential Parenting Tips Based on Science and What I've Learned So Far. It's written by an editor of Brain Rules for Baby, another book that we've both enjoyed. Michael just finished Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success, which presents the social science (as well as compelling anecdotal evidence) on how and why givers succeed. He's currently reading and enjoying No Drama Discipline, and he's also working his way through collections of P.G. Wodehouse stories and G.K. Chesterton stories and essays that Sarah got him for his birthday. Micah is still enjoying Dr. Seuss and Curious George, and has recently become a fan of Scooby Doo and Charlie Brown (he unfortunately became a fan of these at about the same time and insists on calling Scooby Doo "Snoopy"; we've tried to explain to him that Snoopy is the dapper, daring one and Scooby Doo the lanky, awkward coward, but he's convinced they're one and the same). And Isla enjoys reading pretty much whatever Micah likes at the moment, but she's also becoming a Sandra Boynton fan in her own right. If you've got book suggestions, let us know, as we're always on the lookout for what to read next!