It has been some time since I posted. Between working full-time and the many responsibilities that come with having a family, it has been hard to keep up with posts. Things have been so busy I didn't even get a chance to mail out our Christmas cards.

This is what I intended to mail.

For my birthday I decided I wanted to get away for a few days with the boys. Larry and I took the boys down to Moab for an extended weekend. We spent most of our time in Arches National Park. One morning we decided to get an early start and hike to Delicate Arch. We had to stop and feel every patch of sandy ground, count all the rocks in each cairn along the trail, and stop to water the few plants along the way. Although I was a little uptight when the boys got too close to ledges or when they were jumping on the beds in the hotel room or just being crazy in the car, I had a wonderful time spending time with my little family.

Say "Cheese"

Last weekend Natalie asked if we would go up the canyon and take pictures of her family. We love going up the canyon to see the fall colors. So, after church we loaded up the car and headed to the mountains. We are very fortunate to live only minutes from such beautiful sites. My parents came along for the ride so they could enjoy the outdoors with the family (babysitting). Here are some of the pictures Larry took.


Collin, Jay, Natalie, and Sydney Rudel


Donna & John Strong


Shannon & Larry


Sydney, Collin, Logan, & Dresden
(you sure can tell which ones are siblings)


Dresden, Sydney, Logan, & Collin


Sydney, Logan, Collin, and Dresden
are pretending they were washed down
the river bed and are dead...

I mentioned in the last post that Dresden wanted to be a "Doofus", this is what I was referring to...

Charming!!!

Star Wars

So, last year Dresden was really into Star Wars so our family dressed up as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Darth Vader, and Yoda. This year we are still undecided about what we should dress up as. Dresden is leaning towards a "Doofuss". He wanted to buy some googley eye glasses, which we bought for him, and ever since he has been "Doofus" obsessed. It sure would be an easy costume to come up with, not to mention costing much less than a store bought one.

Here are a few pictures of costumes the boys have worn in the past...

What a fearsome superhero Dresden makes. This, by the way, is Daredevil. Did you know that Dresden shares the same initials as Daredevil??? Gee, I wonder why Dresden was named Dresden DeVon...

"Handsome Little Devil"

was Logan's costume.

He was 6 months old.

Really, can they get much cuter???...

~ ME ~

I just read Kendy's blog and she has tagged me to answer some questions about me. So, here it goes...


Jobs I've Had.
1. Idaho Fries in the Cottonwood Mall
2. Pro Image in the Cottonwood Mall
3. Fanzz - I was a miscellaneous buyer for 28 stores in the Western States
4. Hallmark Moldings - Sales Rep
5. Sagebrush Fine Art - Licensing Executive (current)

Movies I Can Watch Over & Over.
1. Moulin Rouge
2. Oh Brother Where Art Thou
3. Top Gun
4. High School Musical 1 & 2

Places I've Lived.
1. Logan, Utah
2. Wiesbaden, Germany
3. Midvale, Utah
4. Sandy, Utah

Favorite T.V. Shows
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Desperate Housewives
3. Entourage
4. Brothers and Sisters

Books I've Read.
I don't claim to be a great reader...I don't make the time and I don't feel like I ever have the time to read. By the time I get home from work, fix dinner, clean up, play with the boys, put the boys to bed...I am ready to put myself to bed. But I did enjoy...
1. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
2. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Guilty Pleasures.
1. Ice cream
2. Chocolates
3. High School Musical

I've Been To.
1. Spain
2. Germany
3. Switzerland
4. France
5. Italy
6. Cancun
7. Hawaii
8. New York City
9. Florida
10. Atlanta

Favorite Foods
1. Italian
2. Steaks
3. I'm liking Indian food and Thai food more and more

Websites I Visit.
1. Americafirst.com
2. KUTV.com
3. my blog
4. Sagebrushfineart.com
5. Art.com

Injuries I've Had.
Other than passing out and hitting my head during high school, I have not had a serious injury.

Nicknames.
1. Shanny
2. Shanny-poo

What Are Little Boys Made Of?

I was out in the front yard weeding and cutting back some of the old flowers and found some new friends for Dresden and Logan to play with. Okay, they are in no way "new" friends because these are the little guys that Dresden and Logan love to play with. Dresden loaded all three snails onto his big wheel and watched them climb all over each other. He got the great idea to give one of them a ride. He made his big wheel go as fast as it could down the sidewalk to the neighbors house. He turned around and headed back home when the little guy fell off and got run over by one of the wheels. It was about that time that Dresden decided he was done playing with the snails.






What are little boys made of? Snakes and snails, and puppy dogs tails. That's what little boys are made of!

First Day of Kindergarten

This is the morning of Dresden's first day of Kindergarten. He met with his teacher, Mrs. Steenblik, the week before and she was so proud of him because he already knew his letters and sounds along with his numbers. Dresden is so smart and loves to learn all about his surroundings!!! Dresden was pretty excited to see that his classroom has a fish tank. Did you know that Mrs. Steenblik was Uncle Brandt's Pre-school teacher? Also, her husband was the bishop that Larry and I interviewed with before we got married.

Such a handsome boy!

Whatever you do, DON'T SMILE!

Dresden was pretty excited when we got to the school and saw Sophie there. Dresden and Sophie are in the same Sunday School class and when the two of them get together they giggle and laugh and get a little crazy!

Bear Lake

Okay, for the request from anonymous, here is a picture with me in it. Dresden and I are roasting marshmellows! Yummy, this is the boys first experience making s'mores...not to mention camping!

Logan and Larry are testing the water to see how cold it is.

It felt so nice to sit in the sun...once it came out. Dresden is inspecting
the sand and trying to find seashells. Very exciting!

Here is our Lolo. He is fearless of water and loves to swim!

Collin loves to build things! He and Jay spent a good part of the afternoon building a sandcastle.

Here are the "kids" at play. Papa let Sydney and Logan float along with him.

Comic-Con 2007

Every year I work for Sideshow Collectibles at Comic-Con, a pop-culture convention with over 140,000 visitors this year. It always makes for interesting visuals. I look forward to the time boys are old enough to come with me; I hope they want to.

Shots from a Dream Theater concert

I recently previewed and reviewed the Dream Theater show. I took a lot of photos but I didn't get them on-line in time to run with the story. I present them here. I know a lot of folks will not be especially interested unless they know the band but it is a group of fine musicians and they are important to me.

La Caille

These pictures were taken up at La Caille. We were lucky to get one of the last openings that a former Deseret Morning News photographer had up at La Caille. Larry had to take care of getting the boys ready for the photoshoot. I happened to be in New York on business when all this occured. Believe me, being the control freak that I am, it was hard to not be there to make sure Dresden and Logan looked their best. Larry was wonderful making sure the boys looked handsome. However, while Larry was in the bathroom cleaning up Logan's Kool-Aid mustache Dresden was in the fridge drinking juice from the pitcher. They made it out of the house and up to La Caille without Larry noticing Dresden's Kool-Aid smile. The photographer reassured Larry that she was shooting digital pictures and that she would Photoshop the mustache out. So, here are a few of the pictures from that day.

Fall Colors

Larry and I took Dresden and Logan up the canyon to get pictures of them. We had a great time seeing how far we could through rocks and to see how large of a splash we could make in the river. Dresden and Logan sat long enough to pose for a few pictures. Here are a few of my favorites.