House O' Sullivans

Here are a few pictures of fun times with good friends over the last couple of months: Two Saturdays ago we met our dear friends Bethany and Andy (and their three girls Simone, Phoebe, and Bronte) for some extreme sledding, intelligent conversation, and dinner.  They live in Illinois, so we only see them once every year.  The afternoon was amazing--the sun came out and illuminated the freshly fallen snow as we made first tracks.  They were staying at a home that backed up against a giant golf course in North Salt Lake.  We free-formed down through the various hills and dales leaving nothing but sled tracks and laughter in our wakes. Sophie and Hallee in a Simone sandwich.  (It was Simone that gifted Sophie with her FIRST giraffe when she was four months old.) We were lucky to see Neal and Kellee TWICE this last year.  (They live in Oregon right now.)  Neal and Kellee are famous for living IN Wayne's Bar for a couple of...

While I was off teaching students yesterday there was a minor crisis on the home front.  Casey was at home watching the kids, but was working in the basement.  As the story goes, Sophie packed up the better part of Hallee's belongings and loaded them into a sled in the backyard, then sent her on her way.  After she'd left, dragging her stuff behind her, Sophie ran downstairs to inform Casey of the breach in Sullivan security.  Casey ran outside to find Hallee in a skirt and socks (no shoes, no coat), dragging a fully loaded sled behind her, at which point she said, "I don't WANT to run away Daddy." I don't know where Hallee acquired the idea of "running away," but several times over the past week it's come up as a "threat."  Looks like Sophie was assisting her in carrying out what she's been threatening all week.  :)

Last month, Uncle Danny (my dad's younger brother--the one that has the dog named "Zeke") and Aunt Leslie visited us just before Christmas.  They mentioned how they had an "austerity month" last year.  Their plan was to stock up on groceries at the beginning of the month then not buy ANYTHING all month.  Besides saving a load of money, they both felt like the experience taught them a lot about themselves and their purchasing habits.  They realized that there were things that they were spending money on that they really didn't need.   Even though we are pretty frugal at the Sullivan household, both Casey and I were intrigued.  Always up for a challenge, we decided to try it out this month.  We didn't stock up on anything before we jumped into the test, but we did allow ourselves to buy milk, eggs (our chickens weren't producing), and a "bountiful basket" (a $15 basket of produce from a food coop--bountiful baskets.org) each week so we'd ...

 Stand up STRAIGHT, fatty!  A brief photo anthology of how it all went down, starting with day #1.  I'm pictured (above) the morning I went to LDS Hospital for an induction.  My water broke the day before and I didn't go into labor within the requisite 24 hours. Soooooo...the midwives ordered me in.  I'd taken a "Hypno-Birthing" class (not as crazy as it sounds, really) with Casey and was absolutely SET on a natural birth.  THAT is the explanation for the next picture.  I seriously look like someone dragged me into a dark alley and beat the trash out of me.  That's pretty much what I felt like, so the photo does the moment justice I suppose.  Several hours of labor sans epidural, jacked up on Pitosin to near the legal limit, followed by over two hours of "pushing" as they call it in the industry.  I DO take comfort in the fact that Casey looks ALMOST as bad as I do though. Sweet Sophie Gene Sullivan.  7 pounds and...

The latest download.  These pictures cannot be ENTIRELY attributed to Sophie anymore since both Hallee and Zeke regularly commandeer the camera these days (and any other kid that comes over).  I have a feeling that the Zeke-Horse took this one (AND the next one).  And now for a special treat.  A few short videos apparently produce d and narrated by Sophie's cousin Phoebe.